Secrets Frozen in Time: How 500-Year-Old Buried Llamas Reveal the Mysteries of the Incas
Who knew llamas could be the ultimate peacemakers? The Incas apparently did—and they took it pretty seriously, going so far as to sacrifice these fluffy creatures as a sort of “welcome gift” to newly-conquered territories. Picture this: instead of awkward handshakes or boring treaties, they threw a massive feast with some seriously decorated, well-preserved mummified llamas (bracelets and colorful strings included). Unearthed from a key Inca site in Peru, these sacrificial llamas shed light on how the Incas weren’t just about gods and rituals—they were masters at sealing political deals with, well, animal offerings that double as ancient party starters. So, was this just a brutal bonding ritual, or did the Incas have a flair for dramatic PR campaigns even back in the 1400s? Dive into the mysterious world of Incan rituals and find out why a llama sacrifice might have been their way of saying, “Hey, we’re friends now.” LEARN MORE
Researchers think the Inca sacrificed these llamas as a way of bonding with the people living in their newly-conquered territory.
L.M. ValdezFour well-preserved sacrificial llamas were unearthed at an ancient Inca site in Peru.
Archaeologists have long known about the common practice in ancient Incan culture to use human sacrifices as offerings to the gods. But it wasn’t until recently that they’d ever found a mummified llama sacrifice — let alone four of them.
According to the Guardian, a team of researchers led by archaeologist Lidio Valdez from the University of Calgary unearthed the mummified remains of four llamas during the excavation of Tambo Viejo in southern Peru, once an important administrative hub for the Incas.
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