The Hunchback, the Contortionist, the Man with the Stolen Identity, and the One Who Will Be Born in the Afterlife

Abstract

During the 2010 and 2012 excavation seasons, a Polish-Peruvian team excavated a small elevated mound—the remains of a platform—located in the northern sector of Castillo de Huarmey archaeological site, unearthing relics of stone architecture and a number of burials dated to the latter part of the Early Horizon (ca. 800–100 BC). Although the entire cemetery has not been excavated, the burial pattern that emerges from burials known to date is fairly clear and seems to be consistent with that of other Early Horizon sites from the north coast of Peru. Within the group of burials from Huarmey, four are rather atypical; they differ from the overall burial pattern in terms of body arrangement, as well as the presence of possible pre-and post-depositional alterations to the remains. Two skeletons of adult individuals were deposited in a completely different manner from the others, and two children were also buried in a rather unusual way. This chapter presents these four deviant burials, describes their context, and offers possible interpretations regarding the reasons for these atypical depositions using iconographic and archaeological analogies.