Death, for the Incas, simply represented a passage from this to another life. Nothing to be afraid of. To ensure this transit, before the corpse was buried or deposited in a cave, it was necessary to guarantee that it was preserved in the best possible conditions, that is, proceed to mummify it.
Unlike ancient Egypt, this rite was not only the prerogative of the powerful and was not always performed through complex artificial processes. Natural mummification, used by the popular strata, consisted of leaving the corpse to dry outdoors, for which both the dry climate of the coasts and the intense cold of the mountains were ideal.
When an Inca sapa (“sole lord”) died, one of his children or relatives inherited his positions and powers, but did not receive any material legacy. The sovereign was mummified using artificial processes (by applying bitumen and corn tallow). After this process, he continued to be the owner of the palace and his servants, and continued to live surrounded by his direct descendants (the so-called panaca), who were responsible for keeping his body in the best possible condition.
The mummies of the sovereigns were one of the most sacred objects of Tahuantinsuyu (as the Incas called their domains). They were consulted as oracles and even attended some of the festivities held in the main square of Cusco. Given the enormous influence of these mummies on the Inca population, the Spanish conquerors prioritized their search and destruction, sometimes at bonfires.
Although the sacrifice of humans was not a very common practice in Tahuantinsuyu, one of the most sacred acts of those Andean peoples seems to have been, according to the chronicles, the offering of children, the healthiest and most beautiful possible. The ceremony was called capacocha and consisted of burying the child alive on a mountain to bring about rain.
In 1995, on the slopes of Mount Ampato (Peru), an American archaeologist named Johan Reinhard made a sensational discovery, one of the most important of the 20th century in his specialty. The discovery was named Juanita in his honor and was the body of a frozen girl: the best Inca mummy ever found and one of the oldest and best preserved human bodies in the world.
However, Juanita presented a detail that contradicted what the Spaniards gathered about the capacocha: the girl had a violent fracture in her skull. Some researchers think that she fell down the slope and this is how her injury occurred; Others argue that perhaps a sharp blow to the back of the head was actually the method used on the capachocha, a death perhaps more merciful than burying a child alive.
After Juanita's discovery, Reinhard became a world celebrity and opened the ban on the peaks of the Andes to mummy seekers (something not very well regarded by the scientific community). However, in 1999 he made a discovery that surpassed Juanita in importance: the children of Llullaillaco, so called because they were found on this Andean mountain 6,700 meters high, around some Inca ruins that constitute the highest archaeological site in the world. .
What is so exceptional about these corpses? First, its perfect conservation, better than that of Juanita, given the enormous altitude. And second: they died frozen while they were unconscious, probably due to the altitude or from having ingested some concoction; That is, when they were frozen, there was still blood inside the hearts of these children – and it continued to be there for 500 years.
These mummies represent a very extensive field of research, as they are suitable for reliable DNA tests, microbiological studies or analysis of their pathological history.
In February 2022, a team of Peruvian archaeologists found six pre-Inca mummies of children in Cajamarquilla, probably sacrificed to accompany a high-status adult, proof that this ritual form is remote in the region.
This text is part of an article published in number 424 of the magazine Historia y Vida. Do you have something to contribute? Write to us at redaccionhyv@historiayvida.com.
