The Incas drugged young children before sacrificing them to calm them down

The Inca Empire was arguably the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. However, archaeological studies and discoveries demonstrate that the wealth and power of this state had been built by shedding the blood of its people. Thousands of people had been sacrificed in particular to appease the anger of the gods.

Sacrifices mainly involved children and teenagers

Most Inca sacrifices involved children or adolescents, who were administered psychoactive drugs. According to scientific research carried out previously, the latter took drugs in order to come into contact with the supernatural forces for which they were going to sacrifice their lives.

A new study published in the journal Journal of Archaeological Science indicates, however, that these children had been drugged for a completely different reason. According to the stories, the children had to go to the top of a mountain to be sacrificed. During the sacrificial rite called Capacocha, their hearts were torn from their chests. However, the mummies studied did not show any trace of cutting resembling such a process. So they had probably been strangled or buried alive.

A drug to make sacrifices more docile

The toxicological analysis revealed the presence of coca leaves and harmine, one of the components of ayahuasca, on the mummies studied. Coca leaves were used by the Incas to treat various ailments and to reduce feelings of hunger, while ayahuasca is a drug that induces ecstatic feelings.

However, this suggests that the victims had been drugged so that they would be less anxious and more docile as they approached their sacrifice. ” Columnists have mentioned the importance of the mood of the victims. The Incas may have consciously used the antidepressant properties of Banisteriopsis caapi to reduce anxiety and depressive states in victims. “, specified the authors of the study.

This new research was led by Dagmara Socha, a bioarchaeologist from the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw. Researchers have provided the first archaeological evidence of the use of this type of drug among the Incas.