Children of Llullaillaco
In this ritual, the three children were drugged with coca and alcohol[3] then placed inside a small chamber 1.5 metres (5 ft) beneath the ground, where they were left to die.
However starting under the rule of Pachacuti in 1438 the Inca swept throughout South America along the Andes mountains, conquering local peoples along the way and consolidating a massive land empire within the span of less than a century.
The Inca Empire reached its maximum geographical extent around 1530 and then began a rapid decline under epidemics pressures culminating in the fall of Cusco in 1533, along with the execution of the emperor Atahualpa[9] by conquering Spaniards.
[12] According to Spanish chronicler Pedro Cieza de León who visited Cusco in 1550, the chosen Virgins of the Sun god, whose task it was to weave and dye woollen cloth for the service of the temple near Cuzco and to prepare chicha, could also be buried alive (sacrificed) if they had violated their celibacy by engaging in sexual intercourse with a male.
[13][14] Spanish historian, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, wrote that by the time of Inca Yupanqui's reign, these women were being used as his concubines.
[17] Dryness and low temperatures are both known to significantly reduce the decomposition rate of human remains,[18] and the extreme environmental conditions at the summit of Llullaillaco are therefore very conducive to preservation.
[19] In 1999 Johan Reinhard and his team of researchers set out into the high Andes to search for Inca ritual sacrifice sites.
Three days into their search Reinhard's team discovered a grave site containing three mummified children: two girls and one boy.
The younger girl's corpse had been struck by lightning after her death, causing burn damage on her body, especially her face and shoulder.
After a long acclimatization process, including a month spent exploring a lower-elevation mountain nearby, the team finally approached the summit of Llullaillaco after establishing a series of camps throughout the ascent.
Throughout this expedition the researchers braved severe winds of more than 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) and extreme temperatures, at one point dropping to −40 °C (−40 °F).
Once at the top of the mountain they had been allowed to fall asleep and then placed in a small tomb 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) underground, where they were left to die.
Because the mummies froze before dehydration could occur, the desiccation and shrivelling of the organs that is typical of exposed human remains never took place.
The practice of ritual sacrifice in Inca society was intended to ensure health, rich harvests and favourable weather.
She was wearing a traditional light brown acsu dress and her head, along with part of her body, was wrapped in a thick woolen blanket.
Lying in the fetal position, he was wearing a gray tunic, a silver bracelet and leather shoes and had been wrapped in a red and brown blanket.
[citation needed] El niño was buried with a collection of small objects, some of them depicting finely dressed men driving caravans of llamas.
If an earthquake or other emergency were to result in the loss of power, the aeroplane of the provincial governor would be used to fly the mummies to another location where they would be able to be "plugged back in".
[21] Rogelio Guanuco, the leader of the Indigenous Association of Argentina (AIRA), called the display "a violation of our loved ones", saying that "Llullaillaco continues to be sacred for us.
