New World's first gunshot victim

Peruvian archaeologists have excavated the remains of what they believe to be the earliest documented gunshot victim in the Americas.

The well-preserved skeleton was found in an Inca cemetary located in a suburb of Lima. The skull contains two holes, one at the front, and the other at the back.

Guillermo Cock and Elena Goycochea, who led the dig at the Puruchuco cemetary, have so far found 72 skeletons at the site, at least 35 of which also showed signs of violent death. Some had crushed cheekbones or broken hands, while others appear to have been hacked, torn or impaled. All the bodies were found in shallow graves, and the traditional Inca burial ritual, in which the head faces eastward, was not performed. The bodies therefore appear to have been buried hastily.

Ceramics and other artifacts found at the burial site indicate that the remains date to the 1530s. And an electron microscopic analysis of the skull revealed the presence of miniscule iron particles around the holes, suggesting that the wounds were created by a Spanish musket ball or an arquebus (an early muzzle-loaded firearm). This evidently entered the victim's skull from the back, and exited at the front through the face. This may have been fired from a range of up to 100 feet, while the victim was trying to escape. Subsequently, the team of archaeologists found two other apparent gunshot victims at the site.

The weapons with which the gunshot wounds were believed to have been made were developed in Europe shortly before the Spanish Conquistadors travelled to the New World. Thus, it seems that the skeletons belonged to Inca warriors who fought during the last stand of their peoples against the Conquistadors, who, under the command of Francisco Pizarro, captured the Andean empire in 1536.


Posted by: William    Source