Wider World15th–16th century AD · Llullaillaco and other Andean volcanoes, Andes, Peru and Argentina
Hair of eight frozen Inca mummies shows the sacrificed children were given coca, alcohol and an ayahuasca plant
Toxicology tests on mummies from volcanoes in Peru and Argentina found coca in every child and harmine, from an ayahuasca vine, in the Ampato Maiden.
In brief 3 key points
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- Hair and nails of eight Inca sacrifice victims were tested
- All had chewed coca; two also drank alcohol with it
- The substances differed from mountain to mountain
Children and young women sacrificed by the Incas on Andean volcanoes had all chewed coca leaves, and some had also been given alcohol or a plant used in ayahuasca. A team led by Dagmara Socha of the University of Warsaw tested hair and nails from eight frozen mummies from Peru and Argentina. The results are published in the journal Antiquity.
All eight died in the capacocha, one of the most sacred Inca rituals. The Incas sacrificed children of both sexes and young women to honour the most important gods, often in response to drought, famine or political unrest. The victims were meant to act as messengers between the living and the gods and ancestors.
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Eight mummies from five volcanoes
The mummies come from Ampato, Chuscha, Llullaillaco, Quehuar and Sara Sara. Most were found on expeditions in the 1990s. They include the Ampato Maiden, a girl of about 14 found in 1995, and three children from Llullaillaco. At 6,715 metres, Llullaillaco is the highest archaeological site in the world.
Drugs and their breakdown products become locked into keratin, the protein of hair and nails. That lets modern tests find tiny amounts centuries later. The team used liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to look for ten compounds from psychoactive plants that grow in and near the Andes.
Coca for all, ayahuasca for one
Cocaine and benzoylecgonine, a product the body makes when it breaks down cocaine, were in every hair sample. All eight had chewed coca. Earlier tests on the mummies from Chuscha and Sara Sara had found no cocaine.
Two mummies, from Chuscha and Llullaillaco, carried cocaethylene. The body forms it when cocaine and alcohol are taken together. Spanish chroniclers wrote that the children were given chicha, a maize beer, to dull their senses and calm them at the end of the ritual.
The nails of the Ampato Maiden held harmine. It comes from Banisteriopsis, the vine used in ayahuasca. No other mummy had it.
The mix of substances varied from mountain to mountain, without a clear pattern. The authors think this reflects the different mountain gods each sacrifice served. Their hypothesis is that the capacocha was adapted to local cults rather than performed the same way everywhere.
The tests have limits. Hair and nails do not record single doses well, and some compounds never enter keratin. The children may have been given other substances that left no trace.
Sources (2)
Peer-reviewed paperfrom University of Warsaw
- Analysis of Inca mummies reveals which drugs sacrificed children took (Archaeology News)
- Hair of frozen Inca mummies shows what drugs sacrificed children were given (Antiquity)
Paper: Socha D. et al. Psychoactive substances in the Inca Empire: toxicological studies on the Inca frozen mummies from volcanoes in Peru and Argentina. Antiquity (2026). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2026.10439
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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