Human Sacrifice, Max Hall, 6,000 Years of Habitation, and Cuy Curing Cancer...

Peru has its equivalent of the National Enquirer in this newspaper cover we photoed on our recent trip to Trujillo. The sub headline reads, "Medical Science in the United States has found that an Enzyme in Guinea Pig Meat Shrinks Tumors." We have enjoyed very good cuy in Peru and some pretty mediocre plates too. A number of variety of foods and beverages are promoted for their various health benefits just as they are stateside. In traditional medicine of the Andes cuy were used and still are in the diagnosis of ailments by shamanistic healers.  We will continue to enjoy cuy from time to time, but not necessarily for its anti-cancer properties. Presently, we are arranging a 'cuy night' at our local favorite restaurant in La Molina for the other Norte Americanos who have never experienced it.

Do you suppose the Cuy Growers Association of  Peru was
behind this to get us all to eat more meat? 

In our recent trip to Trujillo we visited the Huacas del Sol, de la Luna and El Brujo. In the distance from the Huaca del Brujo we could see the Huaca la Prieta. This is a very old site, pre-ceramic, but not open to tourists. The middens or garbage dumps at this earliest site of la Prieta have interesting clues as to what early life was like on the north coast of ancient Peru. Cotton, likely native to the area, had been woven into fishing nets with the use of gourds and rocks for floats and anchors.  Remnants of crustaceans, marine creatures, and primitive stone tools have been recovered, but no projectile points. A number of new world archaeologists suggest these earliest coastal inhabitants came from the Amazon basin, crossing the Andes from the headwaters of the Amazon River.

RA's recent efforts in producing wonderful yuca based cookies. On the 

left are a cheese and butter containing variety. The others are a raisin

or oatmeal equivalent but without the oatmeal. They also contain 

kiwicha which is a popcorn popped quinoa seed. 

It is also believed from the Amazon came the yuca so widely used throughout the world today. It is also known as manioc and cassava. It is third in the world in the supply of carbohydrates as a food source. I am guessing rice is first in the world and potatoes are second. Tapioca is extracted from this yuca tuber. The question now is can we grown this in our garden in Utah when we return home? Yuca is served with nearly every meal in Peru, though our upstairs neighbor, the first counselor in the temple presidency, refers to it as "yuck-a." The Brazilians may have the best recipe for yuca or tapioca, though RA's cookies are wonderful, both types especially as they are hot from baking in the oven.  In my life I have discovered almost anything vegetable in form, swimming with real butter, a little salt and pepper is  good. The Brasileros make a tortilla from the yuca flour, fry it and while cooking sprinkle on cocoanut, banana slices, and chocolate. We have found very good yuca which is softer, maybe due to its freshness and also yuca that has about the same texture as a tree branch. Our new friend Walter, a taxi driver we met in Trujillo sent us a care package with very fresh yuca along with aji and papas, (peppers and potatoes.)  Walter is going to take us to Chiclayo and Cajamarca on our next trip to Trujillo. We would like to go back next month as soon as we know what our schedules will be in the Temple.

The very fresh yuca Walter sent is at the bottom of this

image.  He also sent two kinds of peppers that we enjoy, 

a new one called aji mochero and aji rocoto alsong with

new can chan potatoes.

Also found in these middens of the pre ceramic cultures of northern Peru have been the skins and remnants of the San Pedro cactus which grows abundantly in South America from Ecuador to Chile. It too plays and important role in traditional medicine by the shamans.  The Cusco area of Peru receives a number of young American and European tourists seeking spiritual cures or just a good high and they will visit a shaman. In addition they want to experience the power emanating from the Intihuatana Stone or other huacas that were and are important to the Inca and their predecessors. Spiritual experiences with a shaman centers around a brew or soup made from the San Pedro Cactus. It contains among other things a mescaline hallucinogen.  Traditional medicine has often been the source for genuine medical discovery and investigation. The San Pedro Cactus possesses a compound that inhibits growth and destroys a number of varieties of penicillin resistant staphylococcus.

A San Pedro Cactus next to the table where we dined in

Huanchaco, the beach city of Trujillo. It gets its name

because Saint Peter holds the keys to heaven and the 

extract of this cactus allows the shaman and his clientele

to visit heaven. 

Huaca al la Prieta is one of the earliest sites on the North Coast, dating to

about 3500 BCE. In the foreground is a field of sugar cane, not native to Peru. 

The site at El Brujo and la Prieta encompass 6,000 years of archaeological history from the earliest cultures of the area who initiated settlements through the conquest of the Chimor civilization by the Inca. It is a huge if not impossible challenge for scientists to piece together these bits of flotsam and jetsam of the past to construct the lives and activities of the former inhabitants. A written language seems to have been absent for long stretches of pre-Spanish Peru so we don't have readily accessed accounts of events in the lives of its former inhabitants. Quipu or Khipu is the very strange and complicated system of recording and conveying information. Cotton cords and knots along with alpaca wool and other fibers of varying colors were twisted into yarns and tied together in sequences that still escape the best efforts of linguists aided by complex computer programs to unravel their secrets.  Quipus were used by Andean peoples as early as these very first civilizations and found in Caral, about 3000 BCE, where we visited earlier this year. Quipu or knots tied in strings were also used by early Chinese chroniclers and other peoples as well. So far they have largely escaped decoding. A professor at Harvard, Gary Urton, is leading the effort to decode this strange record keeping medium. It is known as the Khipu Database Project. 

The knots and cords correspond to a binary system of numbers.

It is speculated that a sequence of knots and cords could be tied

together giving the number 84014, a zip code, which would mean

Centerville Utah, USA. 

Following this earliest culture who built La Prieta were the Moche. They were the first to incorporate urban construction around ceremonial centers, huacas and temples. An important component in the fabric of their religious life and society was human sacrifice.  A number of friezes have been uncovered being very well preserved showing captive after captive being lead to the place of sacrifice. Human bones found in areas adjacent to these huacas show signs of freshly broken bones that had begun to knit back together. Injuries consistent with armed combat and warfare. Skulls have been studied too with evidence of blunt force trauma, being bashed in with stone or metal club. From the friezes and studies by the archaeologists there seems to have been quite an elaborate ritual surrounding this ceremony of human sacrifice. It involved ritual or real combat in which the 'loser' or victim was a warrior who lost his hat or helmet in the combat. Imagine Max Hall, the despised former BYU QB playing at Utah. If someone knocked off his helmet instead of becoming a sacrificial victim the home team would be awarded an extra 10 points. It would have to be a one time in a game score as his head would be literally knocked off during the course of an entire game. His captured helmet could then be displayed in the trophy cabinet at the Huntsman Center.

Max Hall did have a cool helmet. Do the Coogs have better helmets than the Utes?

In Mochica society this unfortunate or fortunate victim, depending on whose perspective, would be treated royally and administered the San Pedro Cactus soup just prior to his ritualistic execution. Scientists have pieced together evidence from the friezes suggesting the victim would be bathed and given a drink of a hallucinogenic cactus. Today the shaman accompany their San Pedro cactus brew with tobacco smoking or a strong shot of tobacco and honey juice up the nose. Coca leaves were also part of the apothecary of ancient Peru. Remnants of coca plants have been found in these earliest sites through the Mochica period and to the Inca. By the time the sacrificial victim was lead or carried to the place of execution he was in a trance like and euphoric state. Whether he would be bopped on the head, have his throat cut or both, it was not clear from our guide. If his throat was cut his blood would be collected and presented to the chief Mochica sitting on his platform overseeing the entire ceremony. His body would be thrown over the side and tumble into a waiting grave area. A Peruvian archaeologist associated with a university in Lima, among others, has written about the role of sacrifice among the Moche. He observed: "The sacrifice of warriors seems to have had as its objective to choose candidates for the sacrifice among the most productive members of society. From the viewpoint of society, the sacrifice is the offering of one of its most valuable goods, while it shows unmistakably to all the state's right to exert violence and govern human life. The Mochica drawings seemingly tell us that the gods, represented by the warrior priests in the ceremonies, give life and therefore can take it away."

Sacrificial victims tied together on their way to execution. The genitals

 received special emphasis in the friezes suggesting their importance as

sacrificial victims in terms of their virility and strength. 

A fine line drawing taken from a Mochica ceramic pot. Naked victims

are being lead and carrying others to the stand where the chief sits

waiting to drink the blood of the victims.  Below the line are the dead

in the underworld. Note the ever present serpent.  This serpent was
recently unearthed along with carved stone birds in Southern Turkey
at a site known as Gobekle Tepe. That site is at least 11,000 years old.

A quick review of the cultures of the world on Wiki suggests human sacrifice was an integral part of nearly everyone's history. None seem to have been immune from it. This notion of pleasing the gods, insuring a successful harvest, bringing much needed rains, or the scapegoating of societies' shortcomings by attaching them to one or more victims of sacrifice was a common practice. From the witch trials of Salem Massachusetts, one could argue that human sacrifice is a thread in the tapestry of American history. This is a thread that lingers with us today, some would say, in state sanctioned executions, and assassinations of Muslim American US citizens living in the Middle East.

A painting of an examination of a witch from the Salem period. 

We continue to be fascinated by the history, the past, and the present of Peru. We make new friends and we experience life here a little differently. The things we see are troubling, the past is uncomfortable, and the present is often challenging.  We observe present day Peruvians and we see incredible persistence and perseverance in dealing with their obstacles in life.  We observe their faithfulness in pursuing their religious beliefs and dreams, whether it is coming to the Lima Temple, celebrating the groundbreaking of the Trujillo Temple or petitioning a Saint for intercession in one of the beautiful downtown cathedrals. I have found it comfortable to be in a Shinto Shrine of Japan or an Ottoman era Mosque of Istanbul. Likewise, it was a pleasant experience recently observing a midday Mass at the Church of Merced in Lima.

Church of the Merced built in the early 17th Century of 

imported granite from Panama. 

We add our prayers to those supplicants who seek redress, relief from pain, the privation, and the hardship of present day Peru. We love the people we have met and serve here for a time. We respect and appreciate their past, so rich in accomplishment and sacrifice.

The Huaca El Brujo or the shaman.  It is partially covered to protect recently

uncovered friezes from the sea air and scarce rains.  This huaca and others

was still being used by local shamans until near recent times for its power, 

both in healing and visionary potential. 

A frieze depicting the Mochica god Ayepec. Serpents seem to play and

important iconographic role associated with deities in the Americas. Note 

also the feline jaguar teeth. Both the serpent and the jaguar were important
symbols for the Inca a thousand years after the Moche people.