New study reveals an enigmatic pre-Columbian burial in Ecuador

A recent study, conducted by Dr. Sara Juengst and her colleagues and published in Latin American Antiquity, sheds light on a unique Manteño (AD 650–1532) burial, possibly linked to human sacrifice.

The burial, located in Buen Suceso, Ecuador, contains the remains of a young female, pregnant at the time, who was interred between AD 771 and 953 during the Manteño period.

The Manteño were a pre-Columbian culture known for their agriculture and public architecture. Broadly speaking, the culture shared a similar material culture and socio-political organizations. However, some regional variances exist, and thus, the culture can be further subdivided into three classifications: the Manteño del Norte, the southern Huancavilca, and the Punáes of the Isla Puná. Buen Suceso is located in the liminal zones between the southern Huancavilca and Manteño del Norte cultures.

In 2022, the Buen Suceso site was digitally mapped and excavated. Despite Buen Suceso being a primarily Valdivia Period (3750–1475 BC) site, burials, including Burial 10 discussed in the study, were determined to be of the later Manteño period.

Dr. Juengst elaborates, “Buen Suceso is primarily a Valdivia Period (3750–1475 BC) site formed by a U-shaped midden ring, cleared central plaza, and low mound. The burial discussed in the article is from a later period (AD 771–953) associated with Manteño occupation of the valley.”

Burial 10 contained the remains of a 17–20-year-old female, a cranial fragment likely belonging to an individual between 25–35 years old, and the remains of a fetus.

Further analysis revealed the woman had suffered from various pathologies in life, including cribra orbitalia (porous lesions in the eye sockets), porotic hyperostosis (pitted lesions in the skull), linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH/ horizontal lines on the teeth), and various bone infections.

Additionally, she had been found with various cut marks and fractures, as well as a missing left leg and unaccounted-for hands.

Throughout her grave, various artifacts both belonging to the Manteño and Valdivia cultures were recovered, including ark clam shells (Anadara sp.), a green clay stone, ceramic fragments, crescent-shaped spondylus shells known as mascaras, obsidian blades, a burnt offering, and spondylus chaquira and oblong beads.

Based on the above evidence, the researchers suggested the woman had been killed by a blow to the head; however, whether this was intentional or accidental could not be asserted. At the time of her death, her pregnancy had been nearly at full term, says Dr. Juengst, “The woman was likely near full-term pregnancy based on the development of the fetal bones, so it is likely people were aware she was pregnant.”

Around the time of death, her left leg and hands were removed. She was then buried with various objects containing a mix of Manteño and Valdivia artifacts. Burial 10’s grave goods were compared to other burials at Buen Suceso and found to have contained a dramatically higher number of burial goods.

Burial 10 was also unique for the type of artifacts interred; chaquiras, for example, did not exist in other Manteño burials with the exception of one other. Meanwhile, mascaras and obsidian artifacts were completely unique to Burial 10.

The researchers suggest that Burial 10 may have been treated as a sacrifice or possibly a ritual burial. Although rare, some accounts by the Spanish do report the practice of human sacrifice, says Dr. Juengst.

“European chroniclers actually don’t mention limb removal, but they do describe ritual sacrifice of individuals. Benzoni, an Italian explorer, describes the practice of human sacrifice for coastal Ecuador. He suggests this was performed to appease a god or ask supernatural powers for favors (although European explorers were somewhat notoriously bad at understanding what they observed).”

Additionally, the inclusion of green clay stone suggests that the sacrificial ritual may have been linked to fertility, as it recalls the practice of including green stones in Valdivia burials linked with fertility and death.

The interment of a pregnant woman may further support this interpretation. However, some caution is warranted, says Dr. Juengst.

“Burial of infants at special locations is common throughout western South America and along the Ecuadorian coast, but specific rituals about pregnancy are not documented. Ceramics from coastal Ecuador often depict female forms (so-called Valdivia Venus figurines), and sometimes these are interpreted as having been pregnant, but it’s unclear what rituals surrounding pregnancy would have existed.”

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