Hair Analysis Indicates Inca Child Sacrifice Given Drugs and Alcohol Before Death

Posted on July 30, 2013

Researchers from the University of Bradford conducted hair analysis on the Llullaillaco Maiden, a 13-year-old girl whose frozen body was found near the summit of Volcan Llullaillaco, a mountain on the Chile/Argentina border. The girl was buried 500 years ago, just below the 6,739 meter summit. Two other youngchildren, a 6-year old girl and 7-year old boy, were found in separate graves near the Maiden.

Researchers form Bradford's Department of Archaeological Sciences carried out biochemical analysis of the girl's hair. They found both consumption of cocaine from coca leaves and alcohol consumption. The analysis showed that all three children had ingested both coca and alcohol. The Maiden was also found with chewed coca leaves in her mouth. The hair analysis indicates her consumption of coca went up sharply twelve months before her death, and then peaked again six months before her death, where her consumption was almost three times higher than earlier levels. Her alcohol consumption peaked in her final weeks.

Lead researcher Dr. Andrew Wilson says, "Hair grows around 1cm a month and, once formed, doesn't undergo any further alterations. Substances such as cocaine and alcohol leave markers which can tell us how much the person was consuming when that section of hair was growing. From the Maiden's hair, we have a two-year timeline running up to her death, showing us some of what she ate and drank."

The researchers think the Maiden was selected for sacrifice 12 months before her death. The Maiden was found, seated cross-legged, with her head slumped forward and her arms resting loosely on her lap. Her headdress was found intact and the artifacts around her were found undisturbed. The researchers believe she was placed in the burial chamber while she was heavily sedated. They also believe her position was carefully arranged and the artifacts were placed around her.

Dr. Wilson says, "From later Colonial period accounts we have indications that children, often as young as four years old, and 'acllas', or chosen women selected around puberty, were donated for sacrifice by their parents and from communities which were under control of the Inca empire. One account suggests that this was an honour and that no sadness could be shown when the children were gifted, but the significance of these transactions as a mechanism of social control must have created a climate of fear amongst such communities."

The research was published here in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

ARCHAEOLOGY