More than 500 years ago, three children
climbed up the Llullaillaco volcano in Argentina and never came back
down. They were the probable victims of human sacrifice. In 1999, they
were discovered in a chamber at the summit of the volcano. They were
perfectly mummified in the cold, dry mountain air.

The three children were a girl of around 6-years-old, a bit of around
7-years-old and a teenager of around 13-years-old who scientists dubbed
the “ Llullaillaco Maiden.” They were part of an Incan ritual
known as capacocha, in which children were killed or left to die of
exposure. Since their discovery, they have been examined by scientists
in a bid to learn more about their short life and tragic death. Most of
what they have discovered has come from the Llullallico mummies’ hair,
which absorbs materials circulating in the bloodstream.

In 2007, scientists discovered that in the year before the Lullaillaco
Maiden died, she had gone from eating mostly potatoes to consuming more
animal protein, maize, cocoa and alcohol. This indicates that her diet
changed after she was selected for sacrifice. When the Lullaillaco
Maiden was found, she was sitting cross-legged with her head slumped
forwards and her arms resting loosely on her lap. There was no evidence
of violence to her – or the other two children – leading scientists to theorize they had been placed in the chamber where they had died of
exposure.

Lead researcher, Dr. Andrew Wilson, said: “From later colonial period
accounts, we have indications that children, often as young as four, and
“acllas,” or chosen women selected around puberty, were donated for
sacrifice by their parents and from communities which were under control
of the Inca empire.”