The remains of a young boy and the offering of a small animal –which could be a baby llama or a dog– have been unearthed at the beginning of new excavations at Warivilca, a 1,300-year-old archaeological site just south of Huancayo, in Peru’s central highlands.
The excavations are led by archaeologist Steven Wirtz, a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Santa Barbara. With four workers, Wirtz found the remains of the child, of approximately eight years old, at about 80 centimeters deep.
The burial is possibly associated to the building of walls for the sanctuary, according to Wirtz, either by Huanca or Inca inhabitants, and laboratory tests will reveal the origin and date of death of the child.
Meanwhile, excavations and research will continue at the site until mid-December.
