Archeologists find earliest gunshot victim in the New World
Peruvian archeologists have identified the
earliest documented gunshot victim in the Americas.
Peruvian archeologists have identified the earliest documented gunshot victim in the
Americas, an Inca warrior who was shot by Spanish conquistadores in 1536 in the
aftermath of a battle now known as the siege of
Lima.
The body was one of 72 apparent victims of the uprising found in a cemetery in the Lima suburb of Puruchuco during excavations for a new road, researchers reported Tuesday.
The Inca was undoubtedly not the first native shot by Spaniards in the 44 years between Columbus’s arrival and the Inca’s death. But the odds of finding such a victim are small, and the odds of finding a victim who could be linked so closely to documentary evidence are extremely small.
“Putting together all the evidence, we don’t have a doubt about what happened,” Cock said. “Sometimes we have to speculate in order to connect evidence and event. Here we found archeological evidence and the written record to connect it.”
“The siege of Lima?” Shows you how unimaginative the Conquistadors were. Just think - they could’ve called it Operation Musket Liberty.
The body was one of 72 apparent victims of the uprising found in a cemetery in the Lima suburb of Puruchuco during excavations for a new road, researchers reported Tuesday.
The Inca was undoubtedly not the first native shot by Spaniards in the 44 years between Columbus’s arrival and the Inca’s death. But the odds of finding such a victim are small, and the odds of finding a victim who could be linked so closely to documentary evidence are extremely small.
“Putting together all the evidence, we don’t have a doubt about what happened,” Cock said. “Sometimes we have to speculate in order to connect evidence and event. Here we found archeological evidence and the written record to connect it.”
“The siege of Lima?” Shows you how unimaginative the Conquistadors were. Just think - they could’ve called it Operation Musket Liberty.
Posted: Wed - June 20, 2007 at 09:57 AM