Scans of Inca mummies reveal how children were actually sacrificed

Archaeologists have CT scanned four Inca child mummies found in the 1990s high in the Andes Mountains at the Ampato and Sara Sara volcanoes in Peru. The study is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports and helps to better understand the ritual of kapakocha, a child sacrifice that the Incas performed to "propitiate" the gods and strengthen the power of the empire.

What is capacocha

According to historical descriptions, the Incas sacrificed children and adolescents during important events (such as major ceremonies) or after disasters. Mountain peaks were considered sacred, so the bodies were left in high altitude sanctuaries.

What the new CT scans revealed

Scientists studied four girls (sex was determined from scans, DNA and items from burials). The CT scans yielded details not seen on conventional examination: injuries, illnesses, and signs of how the bodies were preserved in cold conditions.

Key findings from each case:

• Ampato #1 ("Dame Ampato") is the best preserved. The scans show severe damage to the skull and other body parts, indicating a violent death, probably from a severe blow.

• Ampato #2 - in addition to the head injury, there are signs of severe illness: for example, a severely dilated oesophagus. There are also signs of damage, probably related to lightning after burial.

• Ampato #4 is the most unusual: some of the bones were missing, and the voids inside the "curdle" were filled with tissue. Researchers interpret this as a deliberate "reconstruction" of the body, i.e. it was handled after death.

• Sara Sara - CT scans revealed head trauma and calcification of some internal organs (traces of tissue changes over time).

The authors believe that such findings show that capacocha victims were not just "gifts to the gods" for the Incas. Their bodies could remain ritually significant even after death - they could be opened, changed and "reassembled" to preserve the image of the person.