Ancient Lightning Rituals: How Inca Child Sacrifices on Volcanoes Unleashed Mysterious Power, New Study Reveals
For this study, researchers examined the remains of six children found on two volcanoes in Peru, Ampato and Pichu Pichu. The remains were first discovered decades ago by Dr. Johan Reinhard and are in varying states of preservation. In order to examine the valuable specimens without causing more damage, the scientists used advanced x-ray imaging and 3D modeling.
Dagmara SochaSkull of a boy sacrificed at the Ampato volcano in Peru, showing signs of a lightning strike.
Socha and her study co-author, Rudi Chavez Perea, the director of the Museo Santuarios Andinos of the Catholic University of Santa Maria in Arequipa in Peru, found several clues that hinted at the lightning strikes endured by the children’s bodies.
Some the remains, which were sacrificed some 500 years ago, had burn marks on their soft tissue and their clothing. The stone platforms where their bodies were left also showed signs of being struck repeatedly while the soil around the sacrificial sites appeared to have crystallized from the impact of the bolts.
Socha and Perea also found some clues as to where these children came from.
One female victim, dubbed “Lightning Girl” by scientists, showed a deliberately elongated head which was a common practice among Incas living in the coastal areas, not those in the high mountains.
There were also irregularities in the girl’s tooth enamel structure, which indicate that she was either starved or experienced a great deal of stress at one point, likely when she was about three years old.
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