By Erika Potter

A UVU anthropology professor was recently featured on National Geographic for his research findings on 33 mummies at a site northeast of Chichlayo, Peru.

Research done by Haagen Klaus discovered that the 33 mummies ­— most of them girls — were sacrificed as a bid for agricultural fertility. Bioarchealogical studies done by Klaus and five UVU students have also uncovered several other facts about the Peruvian mummies such as age, diet, illnesses and cause of death.

“The blood sacrifice of a large group of women is something that is very, very unusual,” Klaus Said. “It’s the first time that we’ve ever seen this.”

Ranging from 9-15 years old, just three of the mummies found were males. The bodies were well preserved, several of them still with skin, muscle and internal organs preserved.

Klaus was able to examine the skeletal remains of the sacrifice victims and observe the skeletal biological phenomenathat are reflective of life history, diet, genetic patterns, physical activity and trauma that are all ultimately shaped by culture and behavior.

“We’re really looking at the socially constructed patterns of human biology that tells us how people live, and in the case of the sacrifice victims, how they died,” Klaus said.

The examination of the mummified chest of a 9-11 year old child proved that the sacrifice victims were not just used for the blood, but also for their heart, Klaus said.

“The position of the rib cage showed that it had been torn apart. The lungs, arteries and other veins were preserved, but there was no heart present,” Klaus said.

Klaus has been a collaborating member of the Chotuna Archeological Project since 2008, and was present when the first three sacrifice victims were excavated. Klaus, along with his students, was invited back to the site in June 2009 to study the remains of 30 additional bodies that were excavated during his time away from the site.

The field of Bioarcheology is about 25 years old. By examining skeletal remains, archaeologists are able to reconstruct human diet patterns and oral health, lifestyles, and understand long-term patterns of health and disease through minerals and isotopes left in the bones.

The full National Geographic video featuring Klaus can be found at
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090714-peru-chotuna-video-ap.html