Friday, December 11, 2015

Inca Human Sacrifice

Inca Human Sacrifice
In western media, human sacrifice is commonly associated with savagery, the lack of intellect, and extremely primitive societies. This idea couldn’t be further than the truth. The Mesoamerican civilizations that practiced human sacrifice were among the most advanced Empires in the world when Europeans began to arrive. This modern misrepresentation is most likely due to inaccurate European documentation. The Inca civilization, on the western coast of South America, was an example of an extremely advanced Empire that accomplished great feats of engineering, landscaping, and social organization. They achieved these technological and social feats, all while practicing human sacrifice.

While other Mesoamerican societies practiced ritual sacrifice, the Inca’s method was different. They almost exclusively sacrificed children to the gods; presumably due to their purity that does not exist within adults. These sacrifices were called capacocha, were incredibly complex in nature. The children were chosen for their desirable attributes, and rather than being devastated, their families usually took great pride in their sacrifice-worthy children. After the children were chosen, they were prepared for as long as several years to be sacrificed. Often, the children would be fed specific diets befitting their sacrificial purpose for years. They would then be heavily intoxicated with either alcohol or drugs, and then brought up to the summit of their mountains to be sacrificed. This whole process was incredibly sacred to the Inca. It was performed so that they could send messengers to the sun god and plead for future prosperity in future harvests.

There are several famous mummies that went through the process of capacocha; the most famous of which are the Llullaillaco Maiden, Llullaillaco boy, and lightning girl. Their bodies are beautifully preserved and look to just be sleeping

Llullaillaco Maiden
Llullaillaco Boy
Lightning Girl




Sources:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130729-inca-mummy-maiden-sacrifice-coca-alcohol-drug-mountain-andes-children/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB7zbt3a1J0
http://mathwiz2001.tripod.com/theicemaiden/id9.html

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