What researchers discovered after 500 years in the bodies of sacrificed Inca children

Researchers at the University of Cambridge examined eight frozen Inca child mummies. They found traces of several different drugs. The results of their study were recently published in the journal Antiquity.

When Johan Reinhard was traveling on the slopes of Ampato in Peru on April 6, 1995 to photograph a volcanic eruption, he made an incredible discovery: at an altitude of 6,380 meters he came across a small human body from the Inca period bundled up in fabric. More specifically, he found a 14-year-old girl who had been sacrificed to the gods around 600 years ago. The area had partially collapsed, so that the mummy bundle and some of the grave goods had fallen out.

The researchers transported their find into the valley and brought the body to the laboratory under constant cooling. The mummy stood out because of its exceptionally good condition. The ice had surrounded her for several hundred years and thus preserved the girl's body. Their tissues and organs, skin, blood and even stomach contents were therefore almost completely preserved for more than 500 years.

During later expeditions, other children's bodies were found, including on a plateau at an altitude of 5,800 meters where a six-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy lay. Since then, other mummies have been found in other locations.

The researchers examined the hair and nails of a total of eight child mummies to find out which plants or drinks the children were given before they died.

Traces of cocaine were detected in the hair of all children examined. Chewing coca leaves probably helped children cope with the rigors of long climbs at extreme altitudes by relieving hunger, cold and altitude sickness.

The scientists were only able to detect alcohol in some children. Cocaethylene was found in the hair of some children - a substance that is only produced when cocaine and alcohol are consumed at the same time. According to the researchers, the corn alcohol served to calm the children's fears before the ritual and numb their senses. The scientists were also able to find the substance harmine in a child's corpse. This alkaloid is found, for example, in plants of the genus Banisteriopsis, from which the intoxicating brew ayahuasca is made in South America.

The ritual in which the children were sacrificed

The finds confirm a brutal Inca ritual called capacocha. Hundreds of years ago, people chose children to sacrifice to the mountain gods on high volcanoes in Peru and Argentina.

After hiking up the mountain, the children were murdered and wrapped in blankets before being buried in a squatting position. Researchers explain the unusual position by saying that the squatting position is intended to imitate the fetal position in the womb. The people did not see death as an end, but rather as a transition to another phase of existence. The position in the womb is therefore interpreted as the beginning of spiritual rebirth.

The Incas sacrificed both boys and girls as an act of worship to major deities. Some were voluntarily released by their families, others were raised hostages or tributes from conquered regions.

Reasons for the sacrifices included drought, famine or political instability. The role of children was to act as messengers between the living community and the world of the gods.