Ancient Inca mummies reveal coca, alcohol and ayahuasca in sacrifice rituals

What were the rituals of the Incan empire? Image credits: WikiMedia CommonsHigh in the Andes, where the air is thin and the mountains seem closer to the sky than to the earth, archaeologists have uncovered a haunting glimpse into one of the Inca Empire’s most sacred ceremonies. Eight frozen mummies of children and young people who were sacrificed more than 500 years ago have now told researchers what they consumed in the days and months before their deaths. Their hair and nails preserved the evidence: coca leaves in every case, alcohol in four, and, in one famous girl known as Juanita, a compound linked to ayahuasca.The findings do not simply confirm that the Inca used psychoactive plant; but also reveal how priests prepared each child for a ritual that was meant to connect the living world with the gods.What was the Capacocha?The ritual was called the capacocha, one of the most important religious ceremonies in the Inca Empire. Children and young women were selected and taken to high mountain shrines, where they were sacrificed as offerings to powerful deities. In Inca belief, these victims became sacred messengers, travelling from the human world into the divine realm.The ceremonies were often carried out during moments of crisis. Drought, famine, disease, political unrest, or the fear that the natural order had been disturbed could prompt the state to seek the favour of mountain gods. These deities were believed to control weather, water, fertility and harvests: forces on which Andean communities depended for survival.But the capacocha was an act of desperation, and at the same time, deeply political. By choosing children from different regions and bringing them into an imperial religious ceremony, the Inca state reinforced its authority and connected local communities to the empire’s central power. For the families involved, selection could bring prestige, even as it meant losing a child.The children were treated with extraordinary care before the final ritual. Historical accounts describe long journeys, ceremonial meals, fine clothing and sacred objects. Yet until recently, scientists knew relatively little about what substances the victims were given, or how their preparation differed from one mountain shrine to another.What the new study foundMale figurines from Llullaillaco and Ampato with coca pulp inside cheeks Image Credits: J. ReinhardA research team led by Dagmara Socha of the University of Warsaw analysed hair and nail samples from 8 frozen Inca mummies found on mountains in Peru and Argentina. The children were between 6-14 years old when they died, roughly 5 centuries ago. The study, published in Antiquity, used modern toxicological methods capable of detecting even tiny traces of substances preserved in keratin, the protein that makes up hair and nails.Cocaine, the chemical marker left behind after chewing coca leaves, was found in all eight mummies. This confirms that every child chewed coca before death. Coca held a sacred place in the Inca religion, but it also had a practical purpose. It could reduce hunger, ease fatigue and help the body cope with the punishing altitude of the Andes.Four of the mummies showed evidence of alcohol consumption. Researchers believe this was likely chicha, a fermented maize beer. Spanish-era accounts suggest that children were given chicha in the final stages of the ritual to calm them, dull their senses and make the experience less frightening.In two mummies, including one from Llullaillaco, researchers also detected cocaethylene, a compound the body produces when cocaine and alcohol are consumed together. That detail suggests that coca and chicha were used in combination, perhaps deliberately, during the final approach to sacrifice.Juanita and the Ayahuasca clueJuanita, one of the sacrificed Inca mummiesImage Credits: Dr. Dagmara SochaThe most unexpected discovery involved Juanita, also known as the Lady of Ampato. Her mummy was found on Ampato, a Peruvian volcano, in 1995, and she remains one of the most famous Inca sacrificial victims ever discovered.In Juanita’s fingernails, scientists identified harmine, an alkaloid associated with Banisteriopsis plants, key ingredients in ayahuasca. No other mummy in the study showed traces of harmine. This suggests that Juanita was given a drink containing this plant, and that it had a particular meaning in the ceremonies connected with Ampato. Researchers believe harmine may have been used to lift her mood, reduce fear and alter her state of consciousness before death. Moreover, the presence of Banisteriopsis, grown in the Amazon rainforest, suggests long-distance trade networks.Not one ritual, but manyThe capacocha was not a single fixed ceremony. The substances given to each child varied. Coca appears to have been common, but alcohol and harmine were not found in every case.This suggests that priests adapted the ritual to local traditions, sacred landscapes and the specific deities being honoured. A mountain God associated with water may have demanded a different offering than one linked to fertility or protection. In this sense, the capacocha was less a rigid imperial formula and more a flexible religious system shaped by place, belief and circumstance.The evidence also complicates easy assumptions. The substances may have helped calm the children, but they do not erase the violence of what happened to them. Researchers cannot reconstruct exactly how these young people felt. Being chosen for a prestigious ceremony did not mean the experience was not frightening or traumatic.A story preserved in hairThe research is intimate, analysed through the hairs and nails of the Incan children. While it is unfair to judge the rituals of the past by modern standards, it is a look into the past rituals. It is important to understand these are not fictional stories; these are the stories of real people. Children who walked long distances, climbed freezing mountains and faced a fate decided by adults, priests and rulers.The new analysis does not solve every mystery. Some substances may never have entered hair or nails, and drugs given only in the final moments may leave no trace. But it brings us closer to understanding the capacocha.