Inca mummies of sacrificed children and women

The Incas widely practiced human sacrifice. Most often, prisoners captured during wars and raids were sacrificed. However, especially trusted messengers to the ancestral gods could only be specially selected, beautiful children-devoid of physical disabilities and who had not reached puberty. At the same time, children were strangled, their skulls were smashed with batons, and they were buried alive.

A sensational discovery a few years ago allowed scientists to answer many questions related to the ritual sacrifices of the Incas. Then three perfectly preserved mummified children's bodies were discovered on the peaks of the Andes. These children were sacrificed more than 500 years ago, but their mummies are perfectly preserved. And more recently, scientists have concluded that the mummy of a woman, which was kept in a German museum for a long time, also belongs to the Incas. And she also had signs of violent death.

Three children's mummies were discovered on the top of the Llullayllaco volcano, located on the border of Argentina and Chile. The top of the volcano is located at an altitude of 6,739 m above sea level, and the temperature here is low enough for the bodies to be preserved, turning into mummies. According to scientists, these children were sacrificed to the volcano about 500 years ago. On the photo: The same volcano of Llullaillaco, on the top of which the mummies of children were found.

The mummy of a 15-year-old girl who was sacrificed about 15 years ago. Scientists are almost sure that the girl suffocated. The bodies of three children sacrificed five hundred years ago are perfectly preserved. Their hair, skin and DNA can answer many questions of scientists. Forensic pathologists were able to determine exactly how these children died.

The mummy of a 6-year-old girl was also found on the top of the Argentine volcano Llulayllaco. They found traces of a lightning strike on her body, so she most likely died from it.

All three mummies, including this one – a 7-year-old boy-are kept at the Museum of Alpine Archaeology in Salta, Argentina.

An X-ray of the brain of a 6-year-old girl showed that she was hit by lightning. Its orbits with eyes, optic nerves (arrows) and visual muscles are shown here.

An X-ray of the brain of a 15-year-old girl shows that there is a separation between the white and gray matter of the brain. The arrows point to the air surrounding the brain.

And this X-ray showed that the brain of a 5-year-old boy was preserved in perfect condition.

Scientists also concluded that children preparing for sacrifice, in particular, a 15-year-old girl, were regularly given drugs and alcohol to make them more submissive.

In their article dated July 29, 2013 in the journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", scientists concluded that children regularly consumed coca leaves and alcohol. A 15-year-old girl was injected with the most drugs in her last year of life, and the peak use of coca leaves occurred in the last six months of her life.

Scientists also found a piece of pressed coca between the girl's teeth, which suggests that she chewed it to calm down, just before her death.

Not so long ago it became known that a mysterious mummy, which has been in the collection of a German museum for more than a century, may turn out to be an Inca woman who died from several blows to the head, probably during a ritual murder.

On the head of the mummy there were elastic bands made of alpaca and llama wool. This could indicate that the mummy comes from South America.

Her skull also had the characteristic "wormian" bones, which are only found in South American peoples, but not in European ones.

On the one hand, the mummy's face looked quite normal, but inside its skull bones were broken.

As you can see, the front part of her skull is completely crushed.

The scans also showed signs of a compacted heart wall and swollen intestines. Most likely, it was caused by Chagas ' disease.

X-rays of the Inca mummy's body.