As a young person, I heard stories of people being offered as a sacrifice to volcanoes, I never imagined I'd one day see the proof with my own eyes. During the Incan empire, they did in fact sacrifice children to the volcanoes here in Arequipa and other nearby places in the hopes that the volcano would be pleased and spare them future destruction. In fact, twenty bodies of children have been found just by the organization working with the local museum. Three were found on nearby Ampato Volcano. The first is now known only as "Juanita". She was estimated to be between 12-14 years old at her death between 1440-1480AD. She was found in 1995 when a nearby volcano erupted and melted the ice cap on her volcano. She was found near the top, encapsulated in ice, only a bit of her face and arm were exposed, which dehydrated those areas, however the rest of her body was basically frozen in time. The ice preserved her body so well that scientists were able to extract blood for DNA testing and analyze stomach contents. She was transported to the USA for an MRI which revealed she had never broken a bone or even been ill from what they could tell. Her body was perfect, except for the skull fracture which caused her death.
It is believed child sacrifices were selected at birth. They probably belonged to important families and were taken from their homes to grow up in Cusco. When the time came, they would have had to walk from Cusco to Arequipa, a very long journey, and then climb the 20,000-foot volcano. It would have been a horribly difficult trip, especially for a child. The hike up the volcano would have been physically exhausting, but add the altitude and freezing temperatures, and things get very dangerous. They were given chicha, a fermented drink to intoxicate them. Often the children would have died from any of these conditions along the way. They believe this is the reason the other two children were found in graves lower on the volcano. These two were only 6-8 years old, so they couldn't make it as far as Juanita. It appears since she didn't succumb to the conditions, they dealt a blow to her head. Out of the twenty children they have found, only two had injuries, the two oldest. All of the children had been given chicha. They were dressed in fine fabric, had ceramic dishes with them and Juanita had three dolls wrapped within her clothes. They were carved from precious shells, dressed in clothes and a feather headdress just like Juanita. The Museo Santuarios Andinos in Arequipa has these items on display as well as Juanita's actual body. It's held within a glass freezer to keep her preserved. Surreal to be standing there with my own 12-year-old daughter. It struck me how small she was. Curled in the fetal position. Poor child. No photos are allowed within the museum, so I'm only including a photo of the brochure.
The belief that they needed to make an offering to please the volcanos is very similar to one that still exists. You hear a lot about Pachamama in Peru. This is their name for Mother Earth and many times we heard people speak of making offerings to Pachamama. The Incas built places where offerings of coca leaves could be left. In the market we found dead, dried baby alpacas and even embryos for sale to be used as offerings to Pachamama for situations like when someone builds a house or is having fertility difficulties. Worshipping the creation instead of the creator and, in the case of the Incas, killing children in the process. God help them!
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