An Inca sanctuary used for human sacrifices has been discovered high in Peru’s Andes by Spanish scientists and researchers, in what experts are calling a revolutionary finding.
The sanctuary, located in the mountains of Vilcabamba, 150 kilometers from Cusco, was found using satellite imaging technology by a Spanish expedition led by writer Miguel Gutierrez Garitano.
“The ruins, unknown to science until now and discovered through an investigation that included remote sensing techniques, may be from the Inca kingdom of Vilcabamba,” Garitano told El Pais.
“The evidence we have collected may show proof of the existence of the ritual Capacocha, or human sacrifices, in the high mountain area, which – according to experts – would be a revolutionary discovery. Moreover, very luckily, we also found an Inca cemetery with dozens of tombs inside caves,” he added.
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The scientists, who started their exploration in September, say they could not have found the sanctuary if it wasn’t for satellite technology.
They say the important ritual of Capacocha was carried out on the mountain and that the sanctuary was one of the main sacred sites of the Neo-Inca empire of Vilcabamba.
“Usually this type of ritual — where they mainly sacrificed virginal maidens but not necessarily only those – was performed to prevent famines or natural disasters, during some specific festivals or after the death of the Inca, for example,” Garitano said.
He added: “We have found evidence indicating that the ritual of Capacocha may have been performed on this mountain. We have documented two building structures near the summit identical to those that emerged from the volcano Llullaillaco and that were supposedly used to prepare the children before the last ritual of the sacrifice. There is a stone platform nearby where those children may be buried.”