Hair and nail analysis of eight mummies shows Inca children were given alcohol before sacrifice

The children whom the Incas offered in sacrifice were given alcohol and plant-based substances that dulled the senses before they died. This was shown by a toxicological analysis of the hair and nails of eight mummies from Peru and Argentina, which are about 500 years old.

The sacrificial rite was called capacocha. Children were sacrificed on the occasion of important events or during natural disasters, in order to appease the gods. The analysis showed that all the children had chewed, before death, the leaves of a local shrub, which helped them to endure hunger and fatigue during the ascent into the mountains. Some of the children were given alcohol, probably chicha, that is, maize beer. In the case of a fourteen-year-old girl known as the Maiden of Ampato, a substance from an Amazonian liana was found, which the Indians added to ritual drinks