Inka sacrificial guinea pigs from Tambo Viejo, Peru

Early Spaniards reported that the Inkas periodically slaughtered hundreds of animals, guinea pigs being the most common sacrificial animals. It is stated that in a single ceremony, hundreds of guinea pigs were killed. Although the ethnohistorical accounts provide good information about the Inka motivations for guinea pig sacrifice, archaeologically, the occurrence of large numbers of sacrificed guinea pigs had not been found. Recent research conducted at the Inka site of Tambo Viejo, in the Acari Valley of the Peruvian south coast, encountered several dozens of sacrificed guinea pigs that overall represent the single largest find known for the entire former Inka territory. In preparation for sacrifice, some of guinea pigs had been adorned with colorful strings that were placed as earrings as well with colorful necklaces also made from colorful strings. Some of the guinea pigs were also enveloped in a rug before burial. Similar evidence is unknown from anywhere within the former Inka territory, making the evidence from Tambo Viejo unparalleled.