SYNOPSIS
On the coast of Peru existed the Incan Empire, innovators of their time who created Machu Picchu and gold masterpieces, while being masters of conquest. When the archaeologists Guillermo Cock dug a test trench, several graves were found in even intervals in a crouched position facing East with offerings as expected of Incan burials but near the surface, graves broke the pattern by facing West and lying as if thrown in and covered in simple garments without offerings. In addition, the unusual graves had indications of extreme violence that had previously had not been seen in any Indian grave site such as piercing wounds, smashed skulls, and many broken bones. These injuries brought forth the hypothesis that these individuals could have been stabbed from horseback by Spanish conquistador. An x-ray was used to determine if one skull had been impacted by a bullet but no metal residue was found so two experts on gunshot wounds were brought in to examine the skull. The analysis lead the experts to believe that it could have been a gunshot wound so the bone plug and the area surrounding the hole had small fissures analyzed, finding small traces of iron, a metal often used with muskets. Since the Spanish conquistador were illiterate and an official record of events was recorded some time later by scribes, it was speculated that parts of the historical account were left out or exaggerated, minimizing the role of the Indian allies. Examining the skeleton of the one that they determined to be the leader, many of the injuries found line up with the Spanish account including crushing wounds to the torso region and the piercing wounds in the skull. However, the other bodies present do not: often showing blunt force trauma to the skull that would not have come from the Spanish but rather other Indians—only three bodies indicate death by Spanish weaponry. In addition to this, some of the bodies found belonged to women. A historian was brought in who confirmed that the Spanish fought with a large number of Indians as allies and that instead of large battles, most of what occurred was skirmishes between Indians based on other documents and witnesses. The leader of the Spanish conquistador had a strong alliance with an Indian tribe in Peru who offered a young girl to be his wife. When the Incans attacked the conquistador, the girl’s mother provided them with a large army who attacked the Inca. It is likely that these graves show such a skirmish. Due to the ongoing conflicts, the dead could not have been properly buried after battle. Once the Incan conquest was finished, the Spanish forgot their allies.
ANALYSIS
The grave site situation was handled very expertly. The archaeologists who worked together were strong work colleagues who were heads in their field of studying Incan history. In addition to this, several experts were brought in to evaluate aspects that differed from a normal Incan grave site. The two men brought in to examine the skull to see if it was a gunshot wound even stated that their purpose was to try to prove the hypothesis wrong but encountered too much evidence to draw any conclusion but that of a musket shot. The archaeologist examined different weaponry on record for the Indian tribes and the Spanish for that time period and concluded what type of weaponry related to which bodily trauma. In addition to all of this, a historian talked with who had an extensive knowledge of this history and using a variety of resources, provided a more likely story than the one the Spanish provided, correlating with what was present in the graveyard. Several forms of analysis was used on the skeletons including skeletal analysis, x-rays, and symbolism of grave patterns, offerings, and remnants of clothing. In Kelly and Thomas’ book, grave site evaluation is discussed more artificially than the methods outlined in the film and the process that was used to determine the reasoning of the graveyard was thorough.
SOURCES
1. Kelly, Robert and Thomas, David. Archaeology. Cengage Learning, 2016.
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