Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child sacrifice

Andrew S. Wilson; Timothy Taylor; Maria Constanza Ceruti; Jose Antonio Chavez; Johan Reinhard; Vaughan Grimes; Wolfram Meier-Augenstein; Larry Cartmell; Ben Stern; Michael P. Richards; Michael Worobey; Ian Barnes; M. Thomas P. Gilbert

doi:10.1073/pnas.0704276104

Edited by Linda R. Manzanilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, D.F., Mexico, and approved August 21, 2007 (received for review May 17, 2007)

Abstract

Four recently discovered frozen child mummies from two of the highest peaks in the south central Andes now yield tantalizing evidence of the preparatory stages leading to Inca ritual killing as represented by the unique capacocha rite. Our interdisciplinary study examined hair from the mummies to obtain detailed genetic and diachronic isotopic information. This approach has allowed us to reconstruct aspects of individual identity and diet, make inferences concerning social background, and gain insight on the hitherto unknown processes by which victims were selected, elevated in social status, prepared for a high-altitude pilgrimage, and killed. Such direct information amplifies, yet also partly contrasts with, Spanish historical accounts.

Footnotes

^bTo whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a.s.wilson2{at}bradford.ac.uk
Author contributions: A.S.W., M.C.C., and J.R. designed research; A.S.W., V.G., L.C., B.S., I.B., and M.T.P.G. performed research; A.S.W., M.C.C., J.A.C., W.M.-A., M.P.R., M.W., I.B., and M.T.P.G. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; A.S.W., T.T., V.G., W.M.-A., L.C., I.B., and M.T.P.G. analyzed data; and A.S.W., T.T., M.C.C., J.R., and M.T.P.G. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
↵ l Excluding the human and material remains of modern mountaineering, such as the 1924 Everest expedition.
↵ m “Llullaillaco Maiden” is a conventional name and does not necessarily denote anything concerning her sexual or reproductive status at death.
↵ n “High resolution” distinguishes diachronic “lifeways information” provided by hair segmental analysis from bulk isotope measurements of bone collagen.
↵ o Within the last 150 years, eruptions of Volcán Llullaillaco occurred in 1854, 1868, and 1877 (www.volcanolive.com/llullaillaco.html).
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0704276104/DC1.
↵ p OxA-14878: 400 ± 25, calibrated using Oxcal version 3.10 and the INTCAL04 data set at 95.4% probability 1430 A.D. (82.3%) 1520 A.D. and 1590 A.D. (13.1%)1620 A.D.
↵ q McKenney, K., Rasmussen, E. M., Castaneda, J., Fourth World Congress of Mummy Studies, Sept. 4–10, 2001, Nuuk, Greenland.
© 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA