Capacocha
[7] Children selected for sacrifice in capacocha ceremonies were of both sexes, and were provided to the state as tribute by local communities on a yearly basis.
[5] The male victims were no older than ten and girls could be up to age sixteen but must be virgin when chosen; they had to be perfect, unblemished by even a freckle or scar.
[13][7][11] While the boys were immediately brought to Cuzco, the young girls, called aclla, taken for sacrifice were often entrusted to the mama-kuna, in the "House of Chosen Women" (aqlla wasi).
[14] Chosen for their looks, the girls stayed at this institution for an extended period of time and were taught, under the tutelage of priestesses, how to weave, sew, and prepare special ritual beverages called chicha.
[15][14] During the festivities of the Capacocha in Cuzco, it was decided what type and quantity of offerings each shrine or wak'a would receive, of which the Incas maintained a clear record.
[16] Once at the summit, the young victims would then be administered an intoxicating drink or other substance to either induce sleep or a stupor, ostensibly to let the final ritual go on smoothly.
[11] All objects, animals, and people sacrificed to a wak'a, not only represented Inca symbols but were also previously legitimized in ceremonies conducted by the emperor himself.
He wrote that all of the towns of the empire were called upon to send one or two boys and girls around 10 years of age to the capital, along with fine cloth, camelids, and figurines of gold, silver, and shell.
[5] In his fieldwork among the wak’akuna of Cuzco, Bauer found surface evidence of human burial at three shrines, but nothing approaching the thousands of victims described in the chronicles has yet been reported.
[5] The principal offerings recovered from those sites – gold, silver, spondylus shell, and children – also accurately match the priest's account.
[24][25] Spanish historian, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, wrote that by the time of Inca Yupanqui's reign, these women were being used as his concubines.
[27] Capacocha served as way to appease the gods, who otherwise might cause natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, and famines as a punishment for the people's sins.
[5] Building shrines on these mountains both paid homage to the deities and also placed an imperial stamp on areas important to local beliefs, fulfilling both religious and political goals.
[5][11] In a number of instances, typically at the most important of these mountains, these sites contain the mummified remains of children sacrificed in capacocha ceremonies.
In order to increase the ease with which these mountaintop locations could be reached, the Incas built staging stations lower on the mountains and also made paths that lead up to the summit.
[4] Other changes in the isotopes found in the hair samples indicate that the children began their procession to the mountain several months prior to their death.
[4] Another noteworthy capacocha site is present near the summit of the extinct Quehuar volcano, reaching an altitude of 6,130 meters in northwestern Argentina.
[9] It is believed that the sacrificial victim was buried with the clothing she wore at the moment of her death, and then wrapped post-mortem into a bundle with outer textiles.
[11][9][7] Additionally, a small bundle of offerings was discovered containing sandals, cutlery, wooden and ceramic dishes, food items, a comb, and coal.
[11] Furthermore, a damaged tunic[11][9] and a small female figurine made of spondylus shell (dressed in miniature versions of cumbi clothes) was recovered from the platform.
[32][13][6][33] The first sacrifice discovered was a girl estimated to be between 13 and 15 years old (based upon her tooth development),[34] popularly referred to as "Juanita" or "The Ampato Ice Maiden.
[32][6][7] She was wrapped in high quality decorated textiles and surrounded by her funerary assemblage, including pottery, chuspas (some containing coca leaves or hair), llama bones, and four female figurines crafted from spondylus shell.
[32][6] Her body was dressed with a macaw feather headdress and sandals, and was buried with numerous ceramic vessels, figurines, cups, spoons, and weaving tools.
[4][32][6][33] The male child was adorned with a vegetable fiber headdress[7][33] and had elongated pierced earlobes, indicating he may have been the son of an elite family.
