Free Republic

The centuries-old remains of more than 200 children have been discovered in Peru, according to reports. Experts say that the macabre discovery is likely the world’s largest child sacrifice site. The children, who were between the ages of 4 and 14, reportedly were sacrificed to honor the gods of the pre-Columbian Chimu culture. Experts think that the children — killed during wet weather and buried facing the sea — were sacrificed in relation to an “El Niño” event. Peruvian press agency Andina reports that archaeologists found the skeletal remains of 250 children and 40 warriors at Huanchaco, 346 miles north...

Stolen 15th-Century Map Finds Way Back to Spain Harold Heckle in Madrid, SpainFebruary 5, 2008 Associated Press A stolen 15th century map dating to the dawn of modern printing—a decade before Christopher Columbus sailed to America—was returned to Spain on Monday. The map was discovered missing from Spain's National Library in August, cut out of a 1482 edition of Claudius Ptolemy's Cosmographia. Fifteen other irreplaceable documents also disappeared. Scattered Around the World The Cosmographia map was seized by Australian Federal Police at an art gallery in Sydney, after it passed through dealers in Argentina, London, and New York, a spokesperson...