Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Archaeologists in Ecuador have discovered the remains of a pregnant woman buried with valuable artifacts, suggesting she may have been part of a ritual sacrifice, according to a study published in Latin American Antiquity. The burial site, one of six excavated in the region, dates back to between 771 and 953 AD.
The woman's estimated age at death was between 17 and 20 years old, and she was in the late stages of pregnancy, between her seventh and ninth month. Skull fractures indicate she likely suffered a fatal head injury, and her left hand and leg appeared to have been violently removed. Researchers believe these injuries point to a sacrificial death.
2 View gallery
Prehistoric remains of pregnant woman found in Ecuador
(Photo: Sara Juengst/UNC Charlotte)
Human sacrifice was rare among coastal Ecuadorian communities, where the burial was found. However, the woman was interred with an elaborate collection of grave goods, including shells placed over her eyes, crescent-shaped ornaments made from Spondylus mollusk shells, three volcanic obsidian blades positioned around her body and crab pincers laid on her abdomen. Some artifacts, including the Spondylus shells, were dated to over 2,000 years old, highlighting their high value in that period.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
Additionally, the burial contained the skull of a 25-to-35-year-old individual placed near the woman’s shoulder and a burnt sacrificial offering placed on her chest. Radiocarbon dating suggests the burnt material was added to the grave between 991 and 1025 AD, several years after the woman’s death, raising further questions about the site’s ritual significance.
The placement of the artifacts around the woman's body and on her abdomen "suggests protection and special treatment for her and her fetus," Dr. Sara Juengst, a bioarchaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a co-author of the study, told Live Science.
Researchers proposed two theories to explain the circumstances of her death and burial. Given that she died during a period of intense El Niño climate events, which devastated agriculture, she may have been sacrificed as a fertility offering to ensure future crop prosperity. Many of the grave goods are associated with marine environments, further linking the burial to natural resources critical for survival and fertility.
However, burial patterns from that era also indicate that women held exceptional political and social power. "If her adversaries wanted to eliminate her influence, they may have felt compelled to kill both her and her unborn descendants to ensure her lineage ended," Dr. Juengst explained.
The researchers noted that, regardless of the burial scenario, the discovery "prompts us to explore new ideas in Ecuadorian archaeology," particularly how "environmental and social factors contributed to the sacrifice and treatment" of the pregnant woman and her fetus.