A 500-year-old sacrifice
On February 1, 1954, a group of muleteers climbing Cerro El Plomo in the Andes near Santiago, Chile, found a burial site just below the 5,430-meter summit. Inside a small stone structure, they discovered the frozen, perfectly preserved body of an eight-year-old boy. This was the first discovery of a high-altitude Inca human sacrifice, a ritual known as capac hucha or qhapaq hucha. The extreme cold and dry conditions of the mountain naturally mummified the body, preserving skin, hair, and internal organs for nearly 500 years.
The boy was a participant in one of the most important ceremonies of the Inca Empire. The capac hucha ritual involved sacrificing children, considered pure and perfect, to the mountain gods, or apus. These sacrifices occurred during important events, such as the death of an emperor, or to stop natural disasters. DNA analysis suggests the boy came from the Collasuyu region of the Inca Empire, which includes the area around Lake Titicaca. Isotope analysis of his hair and hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin) on his feet indicate he walked for many months over hundreds of kilometers to reach the mountain.
Evidence from the past
Scientific analysis of the Plomo Mummy shows his final months. He was dressed in high-status clothing: a black alpaca wool tunic, a gray shawl, and a headdress of condor feathers. His face was painted with red and yellow stripes, and his hair was styled into more than 200 braids. He wore a silver bracelet, a sign of his elite status.
For decades, scientists believed the boy died from hypothermia after being lulled to sleep with coca leaves and maize beer. However, recent, more detailed CT scans have challenged this view. The newer scans suggest the boy may have died from a precise blow to the head, a method of sacrifice described in the accounts of Spanish chroniclers but not previously confirmed by physical evidence. Analysis of his hair also confirmed the presence of cocaine, indicating he chewed coca leaves to combat the effects of the high altitude during his long trip.
The burial included several offerings. Among them were a silver female figurine dressed in miniature textiles and a gold llama figurine. A small bag found with the body contained his nail clippings, baby teeth, and locks of hair. These objects, along with the boy himself, were meant as gifts to the mountain deity.