Oldest gunshot in the Americas

A team led by Peruvian archaeologist and National Geographic grantee Guillermo Cock has uncovered the skeleton of the first documented gunshot victim in the New World in an Inca cemetery outside Lima, Peru. The body is thought to be the first forensically proven casualty of the Spanish conquest, one of 72 apparent victims of an uprising against the conquistadors.

Most of the attention has gone to the gunshot wound(s), but all of the bodies will surely yield new information about the grisly mechanics of hand-to-hand warfare:

"These bodies were strangely buried," Cock said. "They were not facing the right direction, they were tied up or hastily wrapped in a simple cloth, they had no offerings and they were buried at a shallow depth. Some of the bodies also showed signs of terrible violence. They had been hacked, torn, impaled -- injuries that looked as if they had been caused by iron weapons -- and several had injuries on their heads and faces that looked as if they were caused by gunshots."

Interestingly enough, the musket balls used were apparently iron, not lead. Full press release here, including this:

The new finds at Puruchuco will be featured in "The Great Inca Rebellion," a new NOVA/National Geographic special, premiering Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on PBS (check local listings).

Posted by David on June 21, 2007 6:03 PM