When Cloud Warriors Fight No More (9th – 15th C)
As previously discussed here on The Ancient Standard, most of what the world knows about the Chachapoyas culture of ancient Peru comes from their burials and several pieces of monumental architecture, such as the fortress of Kuelap. While there are still many unanswered questions about this civilization and their eventual fall under Spanish occupation, a recent discovery may shed a little more light on the lives of the Andean Cloud Warriors.
Inside the fortress of Kuelap, excavation teams recently uncovered approximately 80 bodies: men, women, children, young and old – the skeletons seem to represent the culture’s entire demographic. While that may not seem unusual at first, the fact is that the bodies were discovered inside of the fortress and were unburied. Instead, the bodies were dispersed or in small groups, giving every indication of these people still being in the place where they were when they died.
The fact that these people don’t seem to have been touched or moved after their deaths is highly troubling, especially considering that the Chachapoyas were known for their elaborate burials – after all, that is where most of the information about these people comes from, since they did not develop their own writing system with which to record their history.
Why so many people died here, and why they were not buried, is a question with highly speculative answers. Perhaps there was a plague, and other tribe members were afraid to touch the cursed bodies? Perhaps the Spanish invaded in a surprise attack, slaughtering everyone in the fort before they could escape? Was there an internal conflict? Either way, the entire episode must have happened very quickly – many of the bodies had artifacts next to them that were typical of daily use, meaning that they did not have time to pack anything up or even drop the dishes or tools that they were carrying!
Some specialists in South American archaeology have identified pieces of pottery at Kuelap as Incan, which means that the rapid deaths of these people must have happened during the time of the culture’s Incan captivity. It is well known that the Chachapoyas were fierce fighters, continuing to rebel against the Inca even as their culture was suppressed and their people dispersed.
One possibility is that the Inca sent their own warriors to the site to kill a group of Chachapoyas who refused to submit to their authority, or perhaps the event occurred near the end of the Spanish suppression of the Inca, around the time when the Spanish turned on their Chachapoyan allies and forced them to convert to the Spanish way of life.
Certainly, closer forensic examination of the skeletons will reveal more information about how they died – whether by violent trauma or through an epidemic – and through this, hopefully a greater understanding will arise of this period in ancient history.
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