Why inca sacrifice

Valdez suspects this was done to keep them under control while they were buried alive. He says this method of sacrifice fits with what we know about Inca practices. A piece of charcoal found next to one of the llamas was radiocarbon-dated to between and Tambo Viejo was annexed by the Inca Empire around this time, and the sacrifices, combined with feasting, may have been a way to cement the new social order, says Valdez.

In Inca religious ideology, the authors note, coca and alcohol could induce altered states associated with the sacred. But the substances likely played a more pragmatic role as well, disorienting and sedating the young victims on the high mountainside to make them more accepting of their own grim fates. The Maiden and her young counterparts, found in , exist in a remarkable state of natural preservation due to frigid conditions just below the mountain's 22,foot 6,meter summit.

It is this incredible level of preservation that made possible the kinds of technical analysis that, paired with the pristine condition of the artifacts and textiles arrayed in the tomb-like structure, allowed experts to re-create the events that took place in this thin air some years ago.

This is a person; this is a child. And this data that we've generated in our studies is really pointing to some poignant messages about her final months and years.

Because hair grows about a centimeter a month and remains unchanged thereafter, the Maiden's long, braided locks contain a time line of markers that record her diet, including consumption of substances like coca and alcohol in the form of chicha, a fermented brew made from maize.

The markers show she appears to have been selected for sacrifice a year before her actual death, Wilson explained.

During this period her life changed dramatically, as did her surging consumption of both coca and alcohol, which were then controlled substances not available for everyday use. A previous DNA and chemical study, also led by Wilson, examined changes in the Maiden's diet and found marked improvements during the year before her death, including the consumption of elite foods like maize and animal protein, perhaps llama meat.

Now it's clear that the Maiden's consumption of coca also rose heavily throughout the year before her death, spiking dramatically 12 months before her death and again 6 months before her death. The Maiden consistently used coca at a high level during the last year of her life, but her alcohol consumption surged tellingly only in her last weeks.

Certainly in her final weeks she's again entering a different state, probably one in which these chemicals, the coca and the chicha alcohol, might be used in almost a controlling way in the final buildup to the culmination of this capacocha rite and her sacrifice.

On the day of the Maiden's death the drugs may have made her more docile, putting her in a stupor or perhaps even rendering her unconscious. That theory seems to be supported by her relaxed, seated position inside the tomb-like structure, and the fact that the artifacts around her were undisturbed as was the feathered headdress she wore as she drifted off to death.

Chewed coca leaves were found in the mummy's mouth upon her discovery in The younger children show lower levels of coca and alcohol use, perhaps due to their lesser status in the ritual itself, or to their differences in age and size. And while other capacocha sites show evidence of violence, like cranial trauma, these children were left to slip off peacefully.

And in death, this beautiful ten-year old child became a goddess, speaking to her people as an oracle from the mountain, which was reconsecrated in her name. Capacocha Very little is known about Capacocha, the sacred Inca ceremony of human sacrifice, but with each new archaeological discovery of a sacrificial mummy, more is revealed. The earliest and only known written accounts of the ritual are chronicles written by Spanish conquistador historians.

From the chronicles and from each new discovery of a mummy, the pieces of this great puzzle are put together to reveal an intricate and extremely important ritual that involved sacrifice of children, worship of mountains as gods, and elaborate burial procedures. Pichu Pichu 1 also has an artificial head modification, which suggests a different place of origin than that of the Pichu Pichu 2 and the older probable female.

The burial of the Pichu Pichu individual discovered in was located outside the main platform. This difference in burial placement could be the result of her subordinate role compared to the main capacocha sacrifices buried in the main part of the platform. Another explanation is that the Incas returned on separate occasions and performed at least two independent rituals on the summit. At Ampato, all of the individuals buried at an altitude of m were of similar age.

The older female the Ampato Maiden was likely sacrificed on the summit during an independent event. In previous studies of the Llullaillaco children, the Ampato Maiden, and the Sara Sara female, it was shown that the individuals were not related along maternal lines Wilson et al. These results support the interpretation that the children were of different origins and that the Incas may have returned to sacrificial places on multiple occasions and not all of the individuals were buried during the same event.

The chronicles do mention the Incas sacrificing breastfeeding infants Cobo [] ; Guaman Poma de Ayala [] ; however, this practice had not been confirmed in the archaeological record.

Of the 28 capacocha individuals discovered on high mountains up until the present day, the majority 20 have been of a similar age category: 5—9 years old. The age of 5 was possibly a boundary, after which individuals were more likely to reach adolescence.

The high juvenile morbidity in pre-Columbian Peru meant that many children did not reach this age Drusini et al. The unusual young age of the Pichu Pichu 2 could be due to a number of factors, such as his origin or a narrow time span in which to perform the capacocha hence the lack of availability of a more suitable child.

However, the reason for choosing such a young individual is still unclear. The hypoplasia line on the teeth of Pichu Pichu 1 could suggest that the children were housed for lengthy periods of time before the sacrifices were performed. The line appears around the third year of life. The stress could be the result of being separated from her parents after being chosen for sacrifice. This would explain the appearance of the singular line as well as the lack of other lesions related to disease or nutritional problems.

However, this hypothesis requires more testing. Tanta Carhua, who was volunteered by her parents for sacrifice, reportedly complained about the duration of the ritual. The individuals from Pichu Pichu and the Ampato 3 did not have any perimortem traumas.

In two other cases Ampato 2 and 4 , it is impossible at this stage to determine if their injuries are taphonomic processes or not. A comparison of these bodies to other capacocha sacrifices supports the theory that the Incas desired the sacrifice of intact victims Reinhard and Ceruti : The bio-anthropological analysis of capacocha sacrifices reveals two coexisting descriptions that could be applied to the individuals selected for the ritual.

On the one hand, all of the children were well-nourished, with thick layers of fat tissue in the case of the mummies and proper body growth Previgliano et al. The chronicles mention food consumption as being an important aspect of the ritual — that is to say, only well-nourished children were sacrificed Cobo [] : ; Molina [] : The research based on long bone measurements Ampato 3, Pichu Pichu 1 and 2 showed that the children selected as capacocha sacrifices had well developed postcranial skeletons compared to juveniles from common pre-Columbian cemeteries Drusini et al.

Studies of juveniles from the coast of Peru have shown great disproportion between teeth and postcranial development. An analysis of the population from a pre-Columbian cemetery showed that the infants and children there had slower postcranial skeleton growth compared to contemporary populations. This could be related to the minor impact of external factors on tooth growth, which makes them a better age marker.

The proper body development of the capacocha children shows the impact of social status on the growth of juveniles: the bone measurements of the individuals in this study are closer to modern European standards Schaefer et al. This leads to the conclusion that capacocha sacrifices did receive special treatment and thus supports the information in the chronicles about the elite origins of some of the children designated to be sacrificed. On the other hand, some individuals were found to have lesions that could be interpreted as being due to congenital impairment.

It was possible to trace this in an older individual from Misti with improper leg formation Socha et al. The malformation of the path for the vertebral artery and vein and the sympathetic nerve plexus could cause some serious medical issues Cai et al. However, bone lesions alone are not enough to determine the health of an individual. Children with defects were often chosen for religious purposes in the ancient Andes. According to De Arriaga [] : — , people struck by lightning or those with some type of genetic abnormality such as curved legs or cleft lip were chosen to become priests of the god Illapa the thunder and weather deity.

A bone lesion that was an inherent malformation affecting the nervous and vascular system could also cause some kind of health condition that was desirable, as it was evidence of the interference of gods. The collection and preparation of sacrificial victims from different ethnic groups placed the state in the position of being the unique distributor of the most important offerings made in the Empire. The results of the studies of the Pichu Pichu and Ampato sacrifices confirmed the widespread origins, privileged positions, and high social status of the victims.

The children were supposed to be in good general health and be aged around 5—9 years old. The studies show that the victims were well-nourished and had proper growth rate compared to juveniles from lower social strata. The connection between the high social status of the victims and the introduction of imperial gods and religious syncretism assisted in the subordination of conquered provinces.

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