Modern forensic techniques have unravelled the mystery surrounding the violent death of an Inca boy who was marched thousands of kilometres to be ritually sacrificed.
Human sacrifice was deeply ingrained in Inca civilisation, with children and young people periodically sacrificed in rituals to appease the gods.
One such ritual was called Capacocha, which involved long marches to sacred mountain peaks, where gruesome human sacrifices took place.
Now, using modern techniques, archaeologists have been able to reveal new insights into how some of these sacrificed victims died.
In a new study, scientists applied forensic investigation to study the mummies of three naturally preserved Inca individuals recovered from two sites in Chile.
One of the remains was of an 8-year-old boy known as Niño de El Plomo (NEP), who was previously thought to have fallen asleep and died of extreme cold before he was sacrificed.
But now, high-resolution CT X-ray scans and advanced hair chemical analysis paint a different picture.
CT scans revealed a 30-millimetre fracture in the left frontal bone of the boy’s skull.
Researchers applied a computer simulation technique borrowed from modern automobile crash testing to show that the pattern of damage seen on the boy’s remains is consistent with the impact of a star-shaped Inca stone mace.
“Together, these results indicate that multiple mechanisms of ritual death were used across Inca Capacocha sites,” scientists wrote in the study published in the journal Science Advances.
Chemical analysis of the boy’s hair revealed major shifts in oxygen and hydrogen levels.
This indicates he walked through different environments during a prolonged pilgrimage before his death.
“These results provide direct isotopic evidence for prolonged, structured mobility before sacrifice,” researchers wrote in the study.
The remains of a 9-year-old girl (CES-A) and an 18-year-old young woman (CES-B) were also found along with the mummified boy.
Scientists previously suspected that the two females were strangled to death, but the new analysis showed that their throat bones had no signs of fracture or other injury.
The marks on their necks were also found more consistent with pressure from clothing or textiles.
These new findings have led researchers to conclude that strangulation was unlikely.
Chemical analysis of hair from the female mummies point to a spike in carbon levels near the end of their lives.
This indicates they were likely consuming more maize, possibly as part of ritual feasting before the sacrifice, scientists say.
“CES-A likely travelled about 900 to 1200 km over about 5 months, while CES-B appears to have covered a comparable distance in roughly 3 months,” according to the study.
“NEP undertook the longest journey, covering an estimated 2600 to 2800 km from Cuzco to the Maipo-Mapocho valley over about 9 months,” scientists wrote.
The sacrificed victims likely followed routes where local communities could receive pilgrims and provision them along the way, researchers say.