Ancient Bolivian mortuary where corpses were stripped of flesh uncovered in Andes foothills
Ancient Bolivian mortuary where corpses were stripped of flesh uncovered in Andes foothills
Hannah Osborne
By Hannah Osborne February 23, 2015 16:38 GMT
An ancient mortuary where corpses were stripped of their flesh so their families could take them with them on their travels has been uncovered by archaeologists in Bolivia.
The mortuary was found in the foothills of the Andes by researchers at the Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
Published in the journal Antiquity, From Bodies To Bones: Death And Mobility In The Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia, is a study that looks at how a society dating back between 2,000 and 1,500 years ago disposed of their dead.
Scott C Smith and his team found a circular building where the floor was covered in 1,000 teeth and small bones – a room where human body parts were taken to be boiled, stripped of their flesh and cleaned.
"Disposal of the dead in early societies frequently involved multiple stages of ritual and processing," the authors wrote. "At Khonkho Wankane in the Andes, quicklime was used to reduce corpses to bones in a special circular structure at the centre of the site."
More:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ancient-bolivian-mortuary-where-corpses-were-stripped-flesh-uncovered-andes-foothills-1489146