Archaeological excavations at Amato, a site established at the beginning of the Early Intermediate period (circa 50 BC – 300 AD) in the Acari Valley of the Peruvian south coast, uncovered two isolated human heads from different contexts. One head was found near an area where dozens intentionally decapitated skeletons were recovered. The second head was located in association with the main wall that encloses the site. Both heads were buried in similar fashion to Early Intermediate period south coast trophy heads; however, these heads from Amato were not culturally modified (e.g. perforated frontal bone and/or artificially enlarged foramen magnum). These two isolated heads demonstrate that not all human decapitation in the Acari Valley was for the purposes of securing trophy heads. Based on these findings, we suggest that the purpose and motivation for human decapitation and head-taking ...

The objective of this work is to characterize the funerary treatment of individuals buried in two archaeological sites on the central coast of Peru during the late periods (1100 AD-1532 AD). We document patterns shared by the population in general and peculiarities that characterize each site regarding the mortuary treatment of the body. The «Ancón Necropolis» is one of the largest funerary sites in the Central Andes. It was occupied by a local population whose main activities would have been fishing and textile production. The Pachacamac sanctuary is one of the most important oracles in pre-Hispanic times and it had religious, administrative, and political functions, in addition to a domestic occupation. This sample is composed of 26 funerary bundles from Ancón and 18 from Pachacamac; in both cases, the samples include bundles of women, men and children who mainly represent the non-...