Inca child sacrifices involved cocaine and alcohol before death

Archaeological analysis of eight mummified Inca children shows they were given cocaine and alcohol prior to being sacrificed on high Andean mountain peaks. New Scientist reported that researchers tested the hair and fingernails of the children. The mummies were recovered from mountain sites including Llullaillaco on the border of Argentina and Chile, as well as Ampato in Peru. [1]

The young children were selected for sacrifice as part of elaborate Inca rituals. New Scientist reported that the intoxicating and psychedelic substances were given to the victims possibly to soothe their fear before death or under the belief that the drugs enabled communication with deities. Figurines were also discovered alongside the mummified remains at the sacrifice sites. [1]

Dagmara Socha, a researcher at the University of Warsaw in Poland, stated that it is not possible to reconstruct the emotions of the children or to determine precisely how they experienced the events. The finding adds physical evidence regarding how intoxicating plants were integrated into sacred Inca ceremonies. [1]

The discovery builds on earlier evidence of Inca ritual drug use. As FTMQ Science reported earlier, archaeologists at Tambo Viejo in southern Peru previously discovered coca leaves tucked into the fur of sacrificed llamas. That site was built by the Inca in the Acarí Valley after they annexed the region in the early fifteenth century. [2]