Hair and nail tests on eight Inca mummies reveal ritual consumption
Researchers found evidence of coca leaves, alcohol and ayahuasca-linked plants in the remains of children sacrificed 500 years ago.
A research team led by Dagmara Socha of the University of Warsaw has analysed hair and nail samples from eight frozen Inca mummies found on mountains in Peru and Argentina, according to a Times of India report. The children, aged between 6 and 14 years old, were sacrificed more than 500 years ago during the capacocha ritual.
The study, published in Antiquity, found cocaine, a chemical marker of chewing coca leaves, in all eight mummies. Coca was used in the Inca religion and could help the body cope with high altitudes, reduce hunger and ease fatigue.
Four of the mummies showed evidence of alcohol consumption, likely chicha, a fermented maize beer. In two mummies, including one from Llullaillaco, researchers detected cocaethylene, a compound produced when cocaine and alcohol are consumed together.
The mummy known as Juanita, or the Lady of Ampato, contained harmine in her fingernails, an alkaloid associated with plants used in ayahuasca. No other mummy in the study showed traces of harmine.
The findings suggest that priests adapted the capacocha ritual to local traditions and specific deities. While coca was common, the use of alcohol and harmine varied among the victims.