Ceruti 2004

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Human bodies as objects of dedication at Inca

mountain shrines (north-western Argentina)
a
Constanza Ceruti
a
National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET), Catholic University of
Salta
Published online: 04 Jun 2010.
To cite this article: Constanza Ceruti (2004) Human bodies as objects of dedication at Inca mountain shrines (north-
western Argentina), World Archaeology, 36:1, 103-122, DOI: 10.1080/0043824042000192632
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Human bodies as objects of dedication

at Inca mountain shrines (north-western
Argentina)
Constanza Ceruti
Downloaded by [134.117.10.200] at 21:04 30 December 2014
Abstract
The Incas climbed many of the highest peaks of the Andes to deposit offerings on their summits.
They established places of worship above 6000 metres that would be reached again only four
centuries later. The offerings at the high-altitude shrines were dedicated to state deities and local
mountain gods and involved a broad range of objects, ranging from gold and silver figurines, shell
necklaces and high-quality textiles to pottery and food items. Human sacrifices were also performed
on some of the more important peaks. Although Spanish chroniclers wrote about these offerings
and the capacocha ceremonies during which they were consecrated, their accounts were based on
second-hand sources, and the only direct evidence of them comes from archaeological excavations.
The most thoroughly documented of these cult assemblages were recovered on high mountain
summits in Peru and Argentina, where the material evidence was exceptionally well preserved. In
this study we shall discuss the offering assemblages from mountaintop sites in Argentina. By
comparing the archaeological evidence with the chroniclers’ accounts, interpretations will be
presented regarding the social use, political purpose and symbolic meanings attributed to the
objects of dedication, which moved the Incas to ascend the highest Andean mountains in search of
power and eternity.
Keywords
Inca; human sacrifice; shrines; mountain tops; Argentina; Spanish chronicles; offerings.
Introduction
The Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) spread from its heartland in the Peruvian highlands,
expanding its frontiers from northern Ecuador to central Chile. In less than 100 years it
achieved the highest level of organization in the history of Andean civilization. Among
the most unusual phenomena of the Inca culture was the construction of shrines on the
summits of snow-capped peaks, which had never been climbed before and would never be
climbed again until modern days. From the time of Inca expansion from the Cuzco region
World Archaeology Vol. 36(1): 103–122 The Object of Dedication

© 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 online
DOI: 10.1080/0043824042000192632
104 Constanza Ceruti
around AD 1438 and the Spanish conquest in AD 1532, over 100 ceremonial centres and
shrines were built on the summits of the highest mountains within the territories under
Inca control.
The most important mountains in these territories were selected to be scenes for the
ritual performance of human sacrifices and their burials, together with textile and ceramic
offerings in distinctive Inca style. The extraordinary preservation of the bodies and
organic materials in the cold, dry environment of the high-altitude shrines provides
excellent bio-anthropological and artefactual evidence for the study of Inca offering
assemblages. In addition, they are among the few pieces of material evidence of the Inca
religion that have survived the greed of the Spanish conquerors and destruction by the
Catholic extirpators of idolatries.
In this paper we shall focus on the assemblages recovered from Volcano Llullaillaco
(6739m), Mount Quehuar (6130m), Mount El Toro (6160m) and Mount Piramide of the
Aconcagua massif, which represent the pool of bio-archaeological and artefactual
evidence from Inca mountaintop shrines that has become available due to scientifically
controlled excavations in Argentina (Fig. 1). An interpretation of the offering assem-
blages will be proposed in the light of the Spanish chroniclers’ accounts about human
sacrifice and Inca ceremonies. By comparing the archaeological evidence with the ethno-
historical sources, we hope to contribute to the knowledge of the sacrificial and dedicatory
practices of the Inca civilization.
Description of Inca mountaintop assemblages in Argentina
One of the earliest pieces of evidence about Inca human sacrifice on mountaintop shrines
came from an episode of looting that took place as early as 1905, when the naturally
mummified body of a child was extracted from the summit of Chañi, a 5896m peak located
in northern Argentina. Associated items included two tunics, two belts, one comb, one bag
covered in feathers and a pair of sandals (Millán de Palavecino 1966; Ceruti 2001a). Two
archaeological campaigns were conducted by the author on the Chañi massif during 1996
and 1997 (Ceruti 1997), and excavations were directed by Johan Reinhard and Constanza
Ceruti that resulted in the location of the burial place of the Chañi infant and the recovery
of fragmentary evidence of its funerary assemblage (Ceruti 2002).
In 1922, treasure hunters removed the desiccated body of a young female with a tunic, a
bag, one belt, three combs and a feather adornment on her head (Schobinger 1995). The
mummy was extracted from one of the summits of Mount Chuscha, over 5000m, in
north-western Argentina. The burial site was successfully located during high-altitude
surveys conducted by the author (Ceruti 2000). Interdisciplinary research on the Chuscha
mummy is presently being co-ordinated by Dr Juan Schobinger (personal communication).
Mount El Toro
In 1964 the frozen body of an adult male was found accidentally by mountain climbers
inside a circle of stones adjacent to a rectangular structure above 6000m on Mount El
Toro in western Argentina. Archaeologist Juan Schobinger rescued the mummy and
Human bodies as objects of dedication 105

Figure 1 Map showing the distribution of the Inca sites on mountain summits in Argentina.
conducted studies, which revealed that the man had apparently been killed by strangula-
tion. Wearing only a breechcloth (Plate 1), the victim had been buried with a set of objects
including a mantle, two tunics, two caps, two pair of sandals, a sling, feathers and a rodent
(Schobinger 1966). A recent survey of the southern slopes and summit of El Toro did not
reveal further traces of the prehispanic use of ritual space on the mountain (Ceruti
2003b).
Aconcagua (Mount Piramide)

In 1985 the frozen body of a 7-year-old boy was found by accident by mountain climbers
inside a protecting stone structure at about 5300m on the slopes of Mount Piramide, a
subsidiary summit of the Aconcagua range, in western Argentina (Plate 2). The mummy
and its associated offerings were rescued and studied by a team of scholars led by Juan

Plate 1 The mummy of Mount El Toro.
Schobinger, revealing that the child had been presumably killed by a blow to his head,
although he also had ribs broken by compression during the process of bundling. He was
dressed in two tunics, wearing sandals and a necklace of stones. The bundle contained
several textile mantles, one mantle covered in feathers and a feathered headdress and
woven belts, as well as five tunics, three breechcloths, a pair of sandals and two bags.
Inside the burial, three male figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found
together with two llama figurines made of Spondylus shell and a silver figurine repre-
senting a camelid (Schobinger 2001). Red pigment was identified on the skin, and in the
vomit and faeces of the individual (Bárcena 1989).

Plate 2 The summit called Piramide on Mount Aconcagua.
Mount Quehuar
Mount Quehuar, a 6130m extinct volcano in the highlands of north-western Argentina,
holds one of the most impressive Inca mountaintop shrines in the Andes. The summit
complex included an artificial, raised platform (ushnu), more than 6m long and 1.7m high,
with a frontal ramp (Plate 3), as well as a circular structure with walls, more than 2.2m
high and 1.2m thick (Beorchia 1985; Ceruti 1998, 1999a). A small group of ruins was
surveyed at 5000m on the southern base of Quehuar, which could have possibly been used
as a way station (tambo). Johan Reinhard, the author of this paper and the Peruvian
archaeologist José Antonio Chávez undertook an excavation of the Inca shrine on the
summit of Quehuar in February 1999.
A human sacrificial victim had been originally buried inside the circular structure, but
looters had damaged both buildings, and the frozen remains of the individual were partly
destroyed by the use of dynamite. Scattered pieces of the offerings included textiles,
fragmented pottery, corn seeds, meat and bones from a sacrificed camelid. A female
figurine made of Spondylus shell was recovered from the ushnu platform (Ceruti 2001b).
Apparently a tunic had also been recovered from the same structure (Beorchia 1985:
188–200). DNA analysis revealed that the individual buried on top of Quehuar was a
female (Castañeda 2000).
A bundle of offerings, wrapped in a light brown, woollen textile, was found near the
frozen remains of the victim. It was unwrapped in the laboratory and the offerings were
found to include two pairs of sandals, two small textile bags, a one-foot pot, one small jar,

Plate 3 The artificial, raised platform (ushnu) on Mount Quehuar.
a pair of ceramic plates, one wooden plate, a spoon, a comb, food items (corn and chili)
and charcoal.
Mount Llullaillaco
In 1999 Johan Reinhard and the author of this paper investigated a relatively undisturbed
site on the summit of Llullaillaco (6739m), which contained Inca offerings and sacrificial
victims. At an altitude of 6715m, the burial complex is the world’s highest archaeological
site (Plate 4). Excavations at the main ceremonial structure, a rectangular platform,
revealed three separate burials and several offering assemblages. One young woman, one
girl and one boy were found together with more than 100 offerings made of metal, shell,
pottery, feathers and textiles in an excellent state of preservation (Reinhard and Ceruti
2000). Because of the cold the mummies were the best preserved yet found.
The Inca ceremonial complex on Llullaillaco comprises numerous archaeological sites
that are connected by a trail that ascends towards the summit along the north-eastern
ridge of the mountain (Reinhard 1993). The base-camp that lodged the pilgrims, priests
and victims who would participate in the ceremonies upon the mountain was constructed
at an altitude of 5200m. Intermediate stations were erected at 5600m and at 6300m in
places where the slopes of the mountain became steeper. Based on an analysis of the
architectural evidence, we estimate that ten to fifteen persons probably comprised the
group of priests, assistants and sacrificial victims that climbed to the summit of the volcano
(Ceruti 2003a).

Plate 4 Ceremonial structure on the summit of Llullaillaco.
A trail marked with stones leads to the platform built on the most visible promontory
of the summit ridge. The structure is 10m long and 6m wide. Three burials containing the
frozen bodies of the sacrificial victims, and several pits containing offerings, were exca-
vated inside the funerary platform. The burials had been constructed by enlarging natural
niches in the bedrock, and the mummies and objects were buried between 1.2m and 2.2m
deep. They were then covered with the artificial fill that had also been used in building the
platform (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 46–54).The Llullaillaco boy, who was 7 years old,
wore a red tunic, leather moccasins, fur anklets and a silver bracelet. He had a sling
wrapped around his head and his forehead was adorned with white feathers. He was
sitting on a folded tunic with his legs bound by a rope against his chest (Plate 5). The boy

Plate 5 The mummy of the boy in his burial on the summit of Llullaillaco.
also had some extra items of clothing, including two pairs of leather sandals and two
slings. He was carrying a textile bag covered with feathers containing coca leaves and a
small skin bag containing hair. Two figurines, one representing a man and the other a
llama, were placed on the ground close to the body. A ceramic aryballo, a distinctive
container that had contained chicha or Andean beer, was found in the fill of the burial, as
well as a Spondylus seashell (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 57–8).
The burial of a female infant, about 6 years old, was located on the eastern sector of the
platform. It was only 0.8m wide and 1.75m deep, built in a narrow niche of the bedrock.
The body was placed in a flexed position and facing west. The girl had been hit by
lightning after she was buried. The skin of her neck and left shoulder was damaged, and
she had a cavity in her chest caused by the lightning strike. The girl was wearing a
sleeveless dress and a shawl (both kept in place with metal pins), moccasins on her feet
and a metal plaque on her forehead (Plate 6). Textile and ceramic items were placed
around her body on the bottom of the burial: several pots of typical Inca style such as one
aryballo, three pairs of plates, a pedestal pot, two bowls, a jar, a pair of wooden vessels,
four woollen bags containing food, one bag covered in feathers, an extra pair of leather
moccasins, a pair of sandals and a small bag containing hair. Four female figurines made
of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found in a single line at the left side of her body
(Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 60–1).
Plate 6 The mummy of the younger girl (partly damaged by lightning) on the summit of Llullail-
laco.
The Llullaillaco maiden was about 15 years old at the time of her sacrifice (Arias et al.
2002: 7). Her body was placed in the burial facing north east and covered with two brown
outer mantles. A feathered headdress was placed on her head and a tunic on her shoulder
outside the funerary bundle. She was wearing a sleeveless brown dress and a shawl – both
kept in place with pins of gold alloy – and leather moccasins on her feet. She had bone and
metal adornments attached to a textile on her right shoulder, and she had red pigment on
her face. Her hair was combed in numerous intricately woven braids (Plate 7).
Several textile and ceramic items were placed around her body on the bottom of the
burial: pots of typical Inca style such as one aryballo, two pairs of duck-headed plates, a
miniature jar and a one-foot pot, as well as two wooden vessels (keros), a wooden spoon
and a comb. Six woven bags containing food were also placed in the burial, as well as a
minuscule textile band, a set of woollen belts and a small bag containing hair. Three
female figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus shell were found along the left side of
her body (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 59–60).
In addition to the items included in the burials, the excavations brought to light several
sets of offerings containing metal and shell figurines. Some of the assemblages included
two male figurines at the head of a row of statues representing llamas (Reinhard and
Ceruti 2000: 56–7).
Plate 7 The mummy of the Llullaillaco maiden.

Discussion
From comparing the various assemblages it appears that the most important Inca offering
comprises a human body, finely dressed with a feathered headdress and a necklace or a
bracelet, associated with figurines in gold, silver and Spondylus shell. If anthropomorphic,
the figurines may themselves be dressed in miniature clothes. Other finds may include
ceramics (often in pairs and in miniature), objects of metal (such as pins or tupus), bone
artefacts (such as tubes or adornments), wooden items (e.g. vases and spoons), vegetable
food items (such as corn or peanuts) and sometimes the bones of sacrificed animals,
usually camelids (cf. Farrington 1999: 4). An assemblage recovered from an intact
high-altitude shrine is likely to reflect the broad spectrum of Inca imperial offerings, due
to the extraordinary preservation of the organic and inorganic materials. In addition, the
religious purpose and dedicatory character of such an array of objects is not difficult to
infer from the remote and almost inaccessible mountaintop context.
The summits of mountains are specifically mentioned in the ethnohistorical accounts

to be the places for capacocha ceremonies, in which human victims were sacrificed and
buried with offerings of typical Inca style (cf. Hernández Principe 1986 [1621]).
According to these accounts, sacrifices were made for different reasons, such as the
important events in the life of the Inca emperor, including his illness and death and the
succession of a new emperor to the throne (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 111–12). In regional
contexts, they were noted as often having been made to stop natural calamities, such as
droughts, epidemics and volcanic eruptions (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 150–3; Murúa 1946
[1590]: 281). But capacochas may also have taken place at periodic intervals, as a ritual
procedure to appease preventively the mountain deities in control of weather and
fertility (cf. Reinhard 1985). A capacocha ceremony is reported to have involved mainly
a centripetal movement of transportation of sacrificial victims and material offerings
from local communities in the provinces to the capital city of Cuzco (Duviols 1976).
After being ritually and materially transformed into Inca-style offerings, they were
redistributed to sacred places all over the empire, where they would be finally offered
and buried, as a vivid representation of the state cult of the sun god Inti, as well as an
imperial homage to the local sacred places, objects and deified forces known as huacas.
The fact that the mountains were already sacred in the eyes of the local people allowed
the Incas to frame the ceremonies performed on the summits within a broader context
of political strategies to legitimate the power of the empire.
The delivery of the offerings from Cuzco was part of a distributive strategy, in which
aspects such as the help received from the local rulers or the hierarchy of the sacred places
of destination seem to have been taken into consideration (Duviols 1976: 23). The flow of
persons and exotic items from the heart of the Inca world towards the provinces was
framed into a state-controlled pilgrimage that contributed to the integration of the terri-
tory, the perception of the sacred landscape and the intensification of the economical,
political and religious links between the centre and the periphery of the territory (Rein-
hard and Ceruti forthcoming).
Human victims as objects of dedication
According to the written records, human offerings were dedicated by the Incas to the Sun
god Inti, to the Weather (Thunder) deity Illapa and to the Creator Viracocha, as well as to
local deities (huacas). In the words of Father Bernabé Cobo:
They made sacrifices to the Sun so that he would make the plants grow, to the Thunder,
so that he would make it rain and not hail or freeze, and to the rest of the special gods
and second causes. First they would speak with Viracocha and afterwards they would
speak with the special gods. And in their sacrifices to all the universal huacas they would
plead for the health of the Inca.
(Cobo 1990 [1653]: 111)
It was generally believed that the young women and children who had been selected to be
sacrificed would become messengers or representatives of their communities in the
presence of their gods (Gutiérrez 1963 [c. 1603]: 233; Hernández Principe 1986 [1621]).
Selection was based on their beauty, unblemished physical appearance and virginal condi-
tion (Ramos Gavilán 1976 [1621]: 56–62; Hernández Principe 1986 [1621]: 472). Since it
was considered an honour for the families of the sacrificial victims, some parents were
known to have offered their sons and daughters willingly (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 112; Ramos
Gavilán 1976 [1621]: 81). The chronicler Cobo (1996 [1652]: 235) reports that children
younger than 10 years old were annually given as tribute by the local communities to the
Inca authorities. Sometimes, the sons and daughters of the local chiefs were given to the
emperor to be sacrificed in order to help establish an alliance (Hernández Principe 1986
[1621]: 473). The Inca Empire also institutionalized a system of selection and redistribu-
tion of chosen women or acllas, who were taken from their homes at a young age and kept
in seclusion at special institutions called acllahuasis. Under the surveillance of priestesses,
the girls were taught to weave and to prepare ritual beverages (Murúa 1946 [1590]: 333).
At around the age of 14, the chosen women would meet their destiny, being either given
by the Inca as wives to local nobles or consecrated as priestesses. Some of them, however,
would be sacrificed during state capacocha ceremonies (Acosta 1962 [1590]: 241). The
Llullaillaco maiden, being 15 years old, was most likely a ‘chosen woman’, as was probably
the case with the female individual from Quehuar and the young woman sacrificed on
Chuscha. The two infants from Llullaillaco, the Aconcagua boy and the infant from Chañi,
could either have been presented to the Inca by their noble parents or offered as tribute
by their home communities.
The case of the young man from mount El Toro is more difficult to interpret, since the
individual does not fit into the usual age profile of male capacocha victims. The fact that
he was almost completely undressed, and that his funerary assemblage did not contain
figurines, suggests that this might have been the sacrifice of a prisoner of war (cf. Reinhard
in Beorchia 1985: 236) or that his sacrifice might have been executed as a punishment for
some sort of ritual misbehaviour (Ian Farrington personal communication, 2002).
According to the chroniclers, the children chosen for sacrifice were often the sons and
daughters of nobles and local rulers (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 78; Hernández Principe 1986
[1621]: 472). The excellent state of nutrition of the Llullaillaco individuals, as seen in the
thick layer of fatty tissue noticed in the CT scans (Plate 8) and in the absence of Harris
lines in the X-rays (Previgliano et al. 2003), can be interpreted as being in accord with the
Incas desiring healthy unblemished children of a high social status for sacrifices. The boy
from Aconcagua was also found to have good nutrition (Schobinger 2001). Elite items
which appear in the burials – such as specific tunics that used to be given by the emperor
to local rulers as a token of good will – could also reinforce the idea of the high-class status
of the chosen children, particularly if we can assume that the items had been given to the
infants by their own parents (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 78).
Chroniclers reported that, during capacocha ceremonies, children were killed by strangu-
lation, by a blow to the head (Cobo 1996 [1652]: 235), by asphyxia (Murúa 1946 [1590]: 263;
Ramos Gavilán 1976 [1621]: 26) or by being buried alive (Cobo 1996 [1652]: 235). As
mentioned above, strangulation has been suggested in the case of the victim from El Toro
(Schobinger 1966), whereas evidences of cranial trauma have been documented in the
Aconcagua mummy (Schobinger 2001). CT scans of the skulls of the three mummies from
Llullaillaco showed no evidence of blows to the head as possible causes of death nor was
there forensic evidence of strangulation (Previgliano et al. 2003). The victims had presumably
been buried alive and their deaths aided perhaps by exposure (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000:
74). Induced inebriation prior to the burial, which is frequently reported by the chroniclers
(cf. Ramos Gavilán 1976 [1621]: 81; Molina 1959 [1575]: 93), could also have played a part
(Ceruti 2003a). The Aconcagua boy had been apparently forced to drink a beverage of
achiote (bixa orellano), which was found in his vomit, his faeces and in the content of his
stomach (Bárcena 1989; Schobinger 2001). It is interesting to note that the reason for the
Plate 8 CT scan of the boy found on Llullaillaco, showing a thick layer of fatty tissue.
choice of non-bloody sacrificial techniques, as presented in the written sources, was said to be
the belief that nothing ‘incomplete’ should be offered to the sun (Murúa 1946 [1590]: 263–64).
Funerary bundles
The standard practice of burial on mountaintop shrines has to date been found to be a
flexed, seated, clothed corpse associated with an array of grave goods including textiles,
food items and often metal and pottery objects. The body could be buried in a funerary pit
– as at the site on El Toro – or it could be placed inside retaining walls, which were filled
in to form a platform, as in the case of Aconcagua. The three burials on Llullaillaco
combined attributes of both. Single individuals were apparently buried on the funerary
structures on Chañi, Quehuar and Aconcagua. While chroniclers such as Betanzos
referred to the sacrifice and burial of one boy and one girl as representing a symbolic
marriage (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 77), the pattern could not be clearly established in the
archaeological record.
The sacrificial victims were buried with the clothing that they were wearing at the
moment of death, plus outer textile mantles used to wrap them as bundles. This has been
clearly documented in the individuals from Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Aconcagua. An
exception would be the young man from El Toro, who was buried almost naked, wearing
only a breechcloth (huara).
The chronicler Fray Martín de Murúa refers to the custom of including bags, spare
sandals and extra tunics inside the bundles (Murúa 1946 [1590]: 319). The Aconcagua boy
had several pieces of spare clothing, such as tunics, breechcloths, sandals, bags and
mantles inside his funerary bundle (Schobinger 2001). In the case of the Llullaillaco boy,
one extra tunic was included, in addition to two pairs of sandals and two slings placed
close to his body. The young girl from Llullaillaco had spare moccasins and sandals
(Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). The Quehuar mummy had her associated offerings of food,
pottery and sandals wrapped in a textile, forming a bundle. Chroniclers also describe
pieces of coca leaves that were placed in the mouths of sacrificial victims prior to their
deaths (Ramos Gavilán 1976 [1621]: 26). Archaeological evidence supports this, since the
Llullaillaco maiden was found to have had small fragments of coca leaves around her
mouth and on her lips and in her hands.
Offering assemblages
Capacocha sacrificial victims were buried with offering assemblages in accordance with
their sex and age. Clear correspondence can be pointed at between gender-specific offer-
ings such as male and female figurines, which are generally associated with sacrificial
victims of the same sex as represented in the statues (Plate 9). Often one figurine made of
each precious metal (gold and silver) and valuable Spondylus shell was placed close to the
body. Statues were often aligned forming a row and are usually placed on the opposite
side of the body from where the pottery and textile bags were located. Three female
figurines made of gold, silver and Spondylus were aligned on the left side of the

Plate 9 A selection of Inca offerings from Mount Llullaillaco showing pottery, a female (left) and
male (right) figurine, and two pairs of sandals.
Llullaillaco maiden’s body. Another set of three female figurines was found near her
burial. Four female figurines were placed in a row inside the burial of the young girl of
Llullaillaco (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). Llama figurines were present only in the burials
of boys, as found in the shrines on Aconcagua and Llullaillaco (Plate 10).
The chroniclers provide a few explanations for the meanings of the metal and seashell
figurines that were placed as grave goods or that formed separate offering assemblages.
They may have been substitute offerings for the living things they represented (Anónimo
1968 [1590]: 156); the male and female statues may have represented deities (Betanzos
1996 [1557]: 110; Cobo 1990 [1653]: 46; Murúa 1946 [1590]: 257) or members of the Inca
royal elite (Albornoz 1984 [1583]: 194; Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 48; Polo de Ondegardo 1916
[1571]: 194). The camelid figurines could have been intended to increase the fertility of
herds (Arriaga 1968 [1621]: 29).
An interesting pattern of association between male and llama figurines was identified in
the offering assemblages distributed around the burial of the boy on the summit of
Llullaillaco (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000: 76–7). Formed by two male figurines and two or
three zoomorphic statues representing camelids, they had been placed in a row, the male
figurines ahead and the llama figurines following them (Plate 10). Male and llama figu-
rines were also associated in the burial of the boy from Aconcagua (Schobinger 1985,
2001). The repetition of this pattern in mountaintop offerings, as well as the importance of
figurines representing camelids in ritual ethnographic contexts (Manzo and Raviña 1996:
9; Reinhard 1985), suggest that these assemblages of figurines on Llullaillaco and

Plate 10 Three llamas and two male statues in a row, apparently representing a caravan, from
Mount Llullaillaco.
Piramide of Aconcagua could have been meant to intercede for the fertility of the flocks
or the prosperity of the caravans. Chroniclers have referred to arrays of statues repre-
senting ‘sheep’ (llamas) and their ‘herders’ that were displayed in the gardens of
Coricancha, the Sun temple, at the capital city of Cuzco (Cieza 1959 [1553]: 147).
Pottery offerings are more widely represented in female burials, although certain types
such as aryballos and plates can also be found in male burials. Sets of pottery items were
recorded inside the burials of the two females from Llullaillaco, as well as in the bundle of
offerings buried close to the Quehuar maiden. Although some variation can be docu-
mented in the style of decoration of the pieces, almost every pottery assemblage from
female high-altitude burials includes at least one aryballo, one jar and one pedestal pot,
along with a pair of plates (and sometimes bowls). According to the written accounts,
miniature pots in the burials of female sacrificial victims symbolically represented the
houseware of married women (Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 77).
Certain objects, such as plates, bowls and wooden vases (keros), have usually been
found in pairs (Reinhard and Ceruti 2000). It is likely that the pairing of the plates and
vessels was related to the Andean etiquette of ritually sharing food and drink (Randall
1992). This is especially the case with ritual drinking, as described in the chroniclers
(Betanzos 1996 [1557]: 67) and also represented in Guaman Poma’s drawings of AD 1613
(Guaman Poma 1987 [1615]: 143, 285). Food items contained in textile bags and placed in
the burials of Llullaillaco included corn, peanuts, dried potatoes and dried meat (charqui).
Corn is also present in the bundle of offerings found on Quehuar. Food might have been
meant to feed the children in the afterlife or it could have been meant to be offered to the
spirits of the mountains and ancestors (Cobo 1990 [1653]: 115).
While there are many correlations between the historical descriptions and the artefacts
found in situ, there are also items that were not reported, such as the offering of male
tunics with female sacrifices. Especially surprising is the finding that the Chuscha girl was
dressed in a tunic (Juan Schobinger personal communication 2003), since this is a type of
clothing associated with males in Inca society. Unlike some of the chroniclers’ descrip-
tions, only vases and certain types of pottery were found frequently in pairs in Inca
capacocha burials. In addition, some elements appeared that were noted rarely (if at all)
by chroniclers, such as the coastal (non-Inca) textiles found with the boy on Aconcagua
and the headdresses worn by both males and females. Personal items of the children were
often included, in addition to the special clothing and artefacts that were part of the state
offerings. The quality of the textiles also varied considerably, sometimes even within the
same ceremonial complex. This suggests that either some of the burials were considered
of secondary importance or there were limitations on the availability of state-supplied
offerings (Johan Reinhard personal communication 2003).
The distances travelled over previously untracked terrain; the establishment of
well-built structures at various levels on mountains; the physical difficulties overcome to

ascend to heights above 6000m for the first time in the prehispanic period; the systematic
placement of the items at sacred places considered among those of the most powerful
deities of the local inhabitants; the high status, rarity and exceptional quality of the
offerings; the inclusive, representative nature of the items – all of these correlate with the
early Spanish writers’ accounts to establish that the assemblages at the mountaintop sites
not only served as offerings, but also constituted symbols of the control of the Incas over
the economic, political and religious spheres of the peoples they conquered as they
expanded their empire until it became the largest ever to arise in the Americas.
In conclusion, the archaeological findings on the summits of high Andean peaks in
Argentina show remarkable agreement with the historical descriptions of the Inca cere-
monies regarding the sex and age profile of the victims chosen, the sacrificial techniques,
the scenery selected for the rituals and the kinds of objects used in the offering assem-
blages. The sacrifices of the young victims on Llullaillaco, Quehuar, Aconcagua, Chañi
and Chuscha were probably performed as part of capacocha ceremonies, oriented to
appease the deities and ensure the well-being of the Inca emperor and the local commu-
nities. The human bodies and offering assemblages buried at the summit shrines were an
important part of the worship of the Inca state deities, including the Sun, and of the
regional sacred mountains. In the religious sphere, the items embodied the essence of
Andean beliefs, while, in the political context, they were active icons of the imperial
power of the Incas.
Acknowledgements
I should like to express my sincere gratitude to Johan Reinhard, director of the archaeo-
logical expeditions to Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Chañi, for his generous support in the
research relating to this paper and for his very valuable comments that helped improve
the manuscript considerably. I should like to acknowledge Juan Schobinger, my academic
supervisor, for his constant advice and support, and Clara Abal and Luis Mazza for their
textile expertise and co-operation during the unwrapping of the Quehuar offerings in the
laboratory. The Expeditions Council of the National Geographic Society provided

funding to Johan Reinhard for the expeditions to Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Chañi. The
National Council for Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET) provided the grant
that partly funded my research in high-altitude archaeology and the Kellner Foundation
partly supported my library research. I also appreciate the assistance of the Government
of Salta, the Catholic University of Salta and the National University of Cuyo. The
following people were also very helpful in research relating to the article: Craig Morris,
Brian Bauer, Antonio Beorchia, Keith McKenney and Carlos Previgliano. Of course, they
are not responsible for any of the errors and interpretations presented here.
National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET), Catholic University of

Salta
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Constanza Ceruti is a postdoctoral grantee of the National Council for Scientific

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Human bodies as objects of dedication at Inca

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Human bodies as objects of dedication

World Archaeology Vol. 36(1): 103–122 The Object of Dedication

104 Constanza Ceruti

Description of Inca mountaintop assemblages in Argentina

Human bodies as objects of dedication 105

Aconcagua (Mount Piramide)

106 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 1 The mummy of Mount El Toro.

Human bodies as objects of dedication 107

Plate 2 The summit called Piramide on Mount Aconcagua.

108 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 3 The artificial, raised platform (ushnu) on Mount Quehuar.

Human bodies as objects of dedication 109

Plate 4 Ceremonial structure on the summit of Llullaillaco.

110 Constanza Ceruti

Human bodies as objects of dedication 111

112 Constanza Ceruti

Plate 7 The mummy of the Llullaillaco maiden.

Human bodies as objects of dedication 113

The summits of mountains are specifically mentioned in the ethnohistorical accounts

114 Constanza Ceruti

Human victims as objects of dedication

Human bodies as objects of dedication 115

116 Constanza Ceruti

Human bodies as objects of dedication 117

118 Constanza Ceruti

Human bodies as objects of dedication 119

well-built structures at various levels on mountains; the physical difficulties overcome to

120 Constanza Ceruti

laboratory. The Expeditions Council of the National Geographic Society provided

National Council of Scientific Research in Argentina (CONICET), Catholic University of

Human bodies as objects of dedication 121

122 Constanza Ceruti

Reinhard, J. 1985. Sacred mountains: an ethno-archaeological study of high Andean ruins.

tina de Antropologia, 16: 175–90.

Constanza Ceruti is a postdoctoral grantee of the National Council for Scientific

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