Abstract
This study involves the bioarcheological examination of 500-year-old frozen Inca child mummies (Sara Sara; Ampato #1; Ampato #2 and Ampato #4) through a non-invasive diagnostic analysis using CT-scans. Those children had been sacrificed during the most important Inca ritual: the capacocha. Despite the wealth of information in the chronicles, very few sacrifices of this type have been discovered to date. The ones performed on the Ampato and Sara Sara volcanoes were found during expeditions directed by Johan Reinhard and José Antonio Chávez in the 1990’s within the framework of the “High Altitude Sanctuaries of the South Andean Archaeological Research Project”. The aims of this work are to reconstruct the biological (e.g., sex, age at death), taphonomic processes, and paleopathological profiles (i.e., health status, cause of death) as well as the process of transforming the victims turned into messengers to the gods. Despite the similar location of the burials, CT-scan data show that the bodies underwent different taphonomic processes. The individual Sara Sara was partially decomposed, Ampato #1, instead, appears to be the best preserved. Moreover, the soft tissues of the individual Ampato #2 were probably burned by lightning that had struck the tomb. Analysis of Ampato #4 indicates the possibility of a secondary burial, showing evidence of replacement of missing bones and soft tissues with textiles. The presence of internal organs was also recorded, and this study allows for the identification of the causes of death. According to the chronicles, the victims were killed by various methods such as buried alive, strangulation, blows to the head, and suffocation. The signs of blunt forced traumas at the skulls (Ampato #1 and Sara Sara) suggest a ritualized concept of violence. Ampato #2 was, instead, probably killed by neck twisting, which, if so, would be the first such case known.