Peru archaeologists find 600-year-old child sacrifice site

In a vacant lot outside the town of Trujillo, in northern Peru, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of nearly four dozen children -- all thought to have been ritually sacrificed more than 600 years ago.

"Many of these remains have cuts on the sternum, some on their ribs," said archaeologist Julio Asencio from the excavation site.

Each child was buried separately, the scientist said. The remains of two adults and nine llamas - thought to be an offering representing their source of food, clothing and transport - were also found nearby.

They likely belonged to the local Chimu group, which dominated northern Peru from the 700s to the late 1400s, Asencio said.

Historians believe the group may have participated in child sacrifices as an attempt to appease their gods after heavy rains and flooding. They were conquered by the Inca just decades later.

Scientists had previously found another site thought to be a mass sacrifice by the Chimu nearby, of 140 children all with cuts on their sternum and ribs, their hearts believed to have been removed thereafter, alongside hundreds of llamas.

Peru is home to hundreds of archaeological ruins from a number of pre-Hispanic cultures up through the Inca Empire, which stretched from what is now southern Ecuador through central Chile some 500 years ago.