Ancient Peruvians Used Dismemberment as Power Tool

Ancient Peruvian aristocrats dismembered their less well-off neighbors as a scare tactic, new archaeological finds suggest.

Several deformed corpses were found during recent excavations at the burial necropolis of El Trigal, a once-downtrodden community located in the Nazca province of Peru and dating to the 1st century A.D.

Members of nearby, wealthier communities looking to send a message about their power may have been responsible for the mutilations, say archaeologists.