|

|

|
The High Mummies
Written By Liesl Clark
Mummies of the World
| The High Mummies |
Preserving a Mummy
|
Sarita's Land
High Sacrifice
He has delicate fingers and hugs his knees, one foot over the
other, as if to keep warm. His hair is plaited in more than
200 braids, and miniature idols and keepsakes accompany him in
his frozen tomb. Dead for 500 years, this Inca sacrificial
mummy found on Chile's El Plomo Peak has opened the door to
further inquiry into the strange and mysterious ritual life of
the Inca. There may be hundreds of Inca children, sacrificed
in Inca times nearly 500 years ago, entombed in graves of ice
atop the western hemisphere's highest peaks. To date, over 115
sacred Inca ceremonial sites have been excavated at an
elevation over 15,000 feet on some 30 Andean peaks. These high
mountain sanctuaries dot the Andes from central Chile to
southern Peru. All of the sites are located in the region of
the two southernmost Inca quarters, or "suyus," but only a few
of these remote and icy summits have yielded finds of much
archeological value. The discovery by Johan Reinhard of
"Juanita," an Inca ice maiden found atop Mount Ampato in 1995,
is the most recent—and some say the most
revealing—addition to scientists' understanding of Inca
life and culture.
Mountain Worship
The Incas worshipped the high peaks that pierce the South
American skies. These rugged summits represented a means of
approaching the Sun God, Inti, the center of their religion,
and many sacrifices were made atop these cold and
unpredictable pinnacles. Mountain deities were seen as lords
of the forces of nature who presided over crops and livestock.
In essence they were the protectors of the Inca people, the
keepers of life who reached up toward the skies where the
sacred condor soared.
Many theories exist about why the Incas performed ritual
ceremonies, which sometimes included human sacrifices, at
elevations approaching 23,000 feet. Most scholars agree that
the purpose of the sacrifice, known as "capacocha," was to
appease the mountain gods and to assure rain, abundant crops,
protection, and order for the Inca people. Sacrifices often
coincided with remarkable occasions: earthquakes, eclipses,
droughts. On these occasions the Incas were required to offer
valuables from the highest regions they could reach—the
ice-clad summits of Andean peaks. Truly auspicious events,
such as the death of an emperor, prompted human sacrifices,
perhaps to provide an escort for the emperor on his journey to
the Other World.
The fact that many high elevation sacrificial sites are
located near trans-mountain roads suggests that sacrifices
were also made in conjunction with the expansion of the Inca
civilization itself. The extensive roads in the southernmost
regions were integral to the expansion of the empire
southward. Especially important were the trans-mountain, or
east-west, roads, which linked north-south running ranges and
valleys over high-mountain passes. Near such routes, the Incas
chose high peaks, climbed them, built their platforms, and
made sacrifices, sometimes human, to assure safe continued
passage and to bless the roads. The mummy of a young boy on
Mount Aconcagua, discovered in 1985, could be one such
sacrifice. His tomb is near one of the most important
trans-mountain paths which today is virtually the same route
as the major international highway linking Argentina and
Chile.
Continue
Photos: (1) courtesy Chris Openshaw; (2) courtesy Micheal
Barnes; (3) courtesy Chris Openshaw.
Expedition '96 |
Dispatches |
Mummies |
Lost Worlds |
Mail
Resources |
Site Map |
Ice Mummies of the Inca Home
|
BBC Horizon
Editor's Picks
|
Previous Sites
|
Join Us/E-mail
|
TV/Web Schedule
About NOVA |
Teachers |
Site Map |
Shop |
Jobs |
Search |
To print
PBS Online |
NOVA Online |
WGBH
©
| Updated November 2000
|
|
|