Posted on 06/07/2007 8:06:26 AM PDT by BGHater
A headless skeleton found in a Peruvian tomb is adding new wrinkles to the debate over human sacrifice in the ancient Andes.
The decapitated body was found in the Nasca region, named for the ancient civilization that thrived in southern Peru from A.D. 1 to 750.
Known for producing "Nasca lines" in the earth that depict giant figures, the culture is also noted among archaeologists for practicing human sacrifice and displaying modified human heads called trophy heads.
But experts have been divided over whether the heads were taken from enemies in war or from locals offered up for ritual sacrifice.
In 2004 Christina Conlee, an archaeologist at Texas State University, found a rare headless skeleton in a tomb sitting cross-legged with a ceramic "head jar" placed to the left of the body (see enlarged photo).
The age and condition of both the body and the jar, which is painted with two inverted human faces, suggests that the victim was killed in a rite of ancestral worship, Conlee said.
"This research is important because it provides new information on human sacrifice in the ancient Andes and in particular on decapitation and trophy heads," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
I’m just sitting in a hole with my head jar. Yep.
Sittin’ in a hole in the ground
I’ll be sittin’ when resurrection comes
Watchin’ the worms crawl in
Then i watch ‘em crawl away again
I’m sittin’ in a hole in the ground
Watchin’ my head roll around
Sittin’ in a hole in the ground
Wastin’ time
Left my home in Nasca
Headed for tierra del fuego
I had nothin’ to live for
Looks like nothin’s gonna come my way
I’m just sittin’ in a hole in the ground
Watchin’ my head roll away
Sittin’ in a hole in the ground, wastin’ time
Looks like nothin’s gonna change
Everything, everything remains the same
I can’t do what priests tell me to do
So i guess i’ll just remain the same
I’m sittin’ here restin’ my bones
Two thousand miles, i roam
Just to make this hole my home
I’m just gonna sit, in this hole in the ground
Watchin’ my head roll away
Sittin’ in a hole in the ground
Wastin’ time
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