Current Views on the Inca Ice Mummies and Mountaintop Shrines in Northern Argentina

CONSTANZA CERUTI

Stuttgart

Simposio; International Symposium New Perspectives on the Inca; 2014

Linden Museum y Universidad de Bonn

The Incas were the first civilization to ever climb to the highest summits of the Andes in the context of institutionalized religious ceremonies. The capacocha rituals involved imperial priests, local assistants and selected children walking for thousands of miles across desert terrain and climbing to the summit of peaks soaring 6000 meters above sea level. More than hundred mountaintop shrines were built between 1470 AD and the Spanish conquest in 1532. Human sacrifices of children and young women were the most important offerings presented on the most sacred mountain peaks.Chroniclers describe capacochas as having been made for several reasons, including key events in the life of the Inca emperor, such as illness or death. In more distant parts of the empire they were made to stop natural calamities such as droughts, epidemics, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Some capacocha ceremonies would take place as a way of establishing boundaries on the edge of the Inca Empire as it expanded. Others may have being performed periodically, during major religious festivals. Early records of ancient human sacrifices on mountains go back to the late XIX century. But it was the discovery by treasure hunters in 1954 of the frozen body of an Inca boy on mount El Plomo in Chile that first drew the attention of archaeologists. In 1964 the frozen body of an adult male was found by mountain climbers on mount El Toro, in west-central Argentina. Climbers also found the frozen mummy of an Inca boy on the slopes of Aconcagua in 1985. Archaeologist Juan Schobinger directed the rescue of both mummies, which provided the first study of capacocha burials while still in their original context. Whereas numerous high altitude explorations by American anthropologist Johan Reinhard predated and followed the renowned discovery of Juanita, the Ampato Ice Maiden, in the mountains of southwest Peru. During a National Geographic expedition to the peaks of northern Argentina in 1999, Reinhard and the author of this contribution discovered three perfectly preserved ice mummies and more than one hundred objects of typical Inca style, which included gold and silver figurines, Inca style pots, assorted food and spare clothing. The young maiden, the girl and the boy that the Incas sacrificed on top of mount Llullaillaco are thought to be among the best preserved mummies found to date. At an elevation of 6739 meters, the shrine on the summit of this volcano is considered, with certainty, to be the highest archaeological site in the world.