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Human Sacrifice Although the idea of human sacrifice is abhorrent to most modern people, the practice was widespread in earlier times. According to one theory, animal sacrifice gradually replaced human sacrifice as people became more civilized. But humans were still being regularly offered as sacrifices in some societies as late as the 18th century, and even today there are occasional reports of isolated instances.
One of the oldest references to the practice can be found in a biblical passage at Jeremiah 7:31-32, which says that children were sacrificed at a place called Topheth, which was near modern Jerusalem. Many scholars believe that this was a sacrificial site of a people called the Canaanites who were living in Palestine when the Israelites arrived. These Canaanites worshiped many of the same gods as the neighboring Phoenicians, and several ancient writers say that children were ritually sacrificed at the Phoenician colony of Carthage in North Africa. Thus the child sacrifices mentioned in the bible and the child sacrifices at Carthage may have been part of the same religious tradition.
Another account of human sacrifice in ancient times was provided by Julius Caesar. In his book Commentaries on the Gallic War, he wrote that the Druid priests of ancient Gaul (modern France) would prepare for a sacrifice by using sticks to build a giant humanlike figure called a "Wicker Man". After they finished building this figure, they would place people inside it and set it on fire to pay tribute to the gods. Caesar said that the Druids normally used criminals for this purpose because this was more pleasing to the gods, but that they would use innocent people when no criminals were available. A 1973 horror film called The Wicker Man is based on his report.
Actual remains of sacrificial victims have been found in South America. For example, in 1995 the mummified body of a young girl was discovered on a mountain peak named Ampato in southern Peru. The location is about 6200 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level, far too high for permanent human habitation. The body had been naturally preserved due to the freezing temperatures and thin dry air. Scientists believe that the girl was sacrificed more than 500 years ago, probably as an offering to the
