Archaeological discoveries

Incas:revelations about the sacrificed children of the mountains

A new study looks back at the ritual sacrifices of Inca children carried out in the 15th century at the top of the Ampato and Pichu Pichu volcanoes, in Peru.

Mummy n°2 from the Ampato volcano, Peru, and its x-ray showing silver jewelry ornaments called tupu.

All the peoples of the world have been and still are terrified by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It is enough to follow recent news, with the explosion of Nyiragongo, on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda on May 22, 2021, to see how panic seizes the populations. To face these tragedies, certain societies of the past tried to find solutions through religious rituals. This was particularly the case of the Incas, whose empire dominated the Andes in the 15th century, as a study on the bodies of mummified children published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences has just recalled. . The American anthropologist and explorer Johan Reinhard, one of the few specialists in high mountain archeology to whom we owe the discovery of twenty of these small mummified bodies in Peru, Chile and Argentina, between 1995 and 1999, deciphers recent results.

The remains of 5 immolated children. They were 3 to 7 years old

Regularly confronted with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that periodically shook their domain stretching over more than 3000 km along the Andes Cordillera, the Incas indeed carried out child sacrifices called Capacocha : they deposited the bodies of them on the tops of the mountains to try to appease the deities who, according to them, lived in these huacas ( sacred places). The study confirms that a selection was made early on among the population of these young beings destined to be sacrificed during these ceremonies, considered to be the most important sacrificial offerings practiced in the Inca world. It is based on the analysis of three children found immolated between 5800m and 6300m on the peaks of the Ampato volcanoes, and two others on the Pichu-Pichu at 5600m, in the department of Arequipa in southern Peru.

All the peoples of the world have been and still are terrified by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. It is enough to follow recent news, with the explosion of Nyiragongo, on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda on May 22, 2021, to see how panic seizes the populations. To face these tragedies, certain societies of the past tried to find solutions through religious rituals. This was particularly the case of the Incas, whose empire dominated the Andes in the 15th century, as a study on the bodies of mummified children published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences has just recalled. . The American anthropologist and explorer Johan Reinhard, one of the few specialists in high mountain archeology to whom we owe the discovery of twenty of these small mummified bodies in Peru, Chile and Argentina, between 1995 and 1999, deciphers recent results.

The remains of 5 immolated children. They were 3 to 7 years old

Regularly confronted with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that periodically shook their domain stretching over more than 3000 km along the Andes Cordillera, the Incas indeed carried out child sacrifices called Capacocha : they deposited the bodies of them on the tops of the mountains to try to appease the deities who, according to them, lived in these huacas ( sacred places). The study confirms that a selection was made early on among the population of these young beings destined to be sacrificed during these ceremonies, considered to be the most important sacrificial offerings practiced in the Inca world. It is based on the analysis of three children found immolated between 5800m and 6300m on the peaks of the Ampato volcanoes, and two others on Pichu-Pichu at 5600m, in the department of Arequipa in southern Peru.

Map showing the volcanoes of southern Peru, with signage of the summits of Pichu Pichu and Ampato; Credits:Johan Reinhard (courtesy National Geographic Society).

X-ray examination of the partially mummified frozen bodies of Ampato, was carried out at the Arequipa Sanctuary Museum (Museo Santuarios Andinos) where these remains have been kept since their discoveries in the 1990s. All were still wrapped in the llama, guanaco and vicuña wool textiles they wore when they died. They were accompanied by gold and silver figurines as well as spondylus , shells of great value brought back from the warm seas. The study was thus able to determine that they were children aged 3 to 7, most certainly selected according to their social group and their physical appearance, as reported in the chronicles of the time which insist on the remarkable characteristics of small victims.


Deformed skull of one of the two children sacrificed at the top of Pichu Pichu. Credits:Dagmara Socha

In the mouth, the trace of pulmonary edema

The Incas indeed thought that only "pure" and "perfect" beings could approach the gods. The examination of the children found on the Ampato and Pichu Pichu volcanoes confirms that they evolved within privileged social categories, as indicated by their good sanitary condition in comparison with other remains of Inca children found on different sites. archaeological. However, exceptions have also been reported, some small victims found at the top of the llullaillaco volcano, on the Argentinian border, or that of El Plomo, in Chile, had warts on their hands... Selected very early, all these children were prepared months before being sacrificed as indicated by previous analyses.

The bodies still bear the marks of their last trip to the places of torture:If the youngest were undoubtedly transported, the oldest had to climb the high mountains by their own means. For example, the soles of a boy's feet from El Plomo showed hyperkeratosis (hardening of the meaty layer) and blood was found in his mouth, suggesting that he had suffered from pulmonary edema due to the altitude . When their last moment came, the little victims were sacrificed, some by a violent blow to the head, others poisoned or strangled. All had consumed coca and chicha (corn alcohol) with anesthetic effects. For the authors of the study, the introduction of these capacochas throughout the empire also allowed the Inca State to exercise ideological control over the conquered lands and peoples, contributing to their subordination through the establishment of these supreme sacrificial offerings.