[Aztlan] INCA CHILD SACRIFICEES FATTENED UP

[Carlos]

Achiote an hallucinogen? 
carlos

michael ruggeri wrote:
>
> From Eurekalert
> Public release date: 1-Oct-2007
>
>
> Contact: Craig Brierley
> c.brierley at wellcome.ac.uk
>
> Scientists uncover Inca children's countdown to sacrifice
>
>
>
> Hair samples from naturally preserved child mummies discovered at the 
> world's highest archaeological site in the Andes have provided a 
> startling insight into the lives of the children chosen for sacrifice. 
> Researchers funded by the Wellcome Trust used DNA and stable isotope 
> analysis to show how children as young as 6-years old were "fattened 
> up" and taken on a pilgrimage to their death.
>
> A team of scientists led by Dr Andrew Wilson at the University of 
> Bradford analysed hair samples taken from the heads and from small 
> accompanying bags of four mummies found in the Andes. These included 
> the 15-year old "Llullaillaco Maiden" and the 7-year old "Llullaillaco 
> Boy" whose frozen remains were found in 1999 at a shrine 25m from the 
> summit of Mount Llullaillaco, a 6,739m volcano on the border of 
> Argentina and Chile. The Maiden, described as a "perfect mummy" went 
> on display for the first time last month in Salta, northwest Argentina.
>
> Dr Wilson and colleagues studied DNA and stable light isotopes from 
> the hair samples to offer insight into the lives of these children. 
> Unlike samples of bone collagen and dental enamel, which give an 
> average reading over time, hair growth allows scientists to capture a 
> unique snapshot at different intervals over time, helping build up a 
> picture of how the children were prepared for sacrifice over a period 
> of months. The results are published today in the journal Proceedings 
> of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
>
> "By examining hair samples from these unfortunate children, a chilling 
> story has started to emerge of how the children were 'fattened up' for 
> sacrifice," says Dr Wilson, a Wellcome Trust Bioarchaeology Fellow.
>
> It is believed that sons and daughters of local rulers and local 
> communities were chosen for sacrifice, possibly as a way for the 
> ruling Incas to use fear to govern their people. Some girls, know as 
> acllas, were selected from around the age of four and placed under the 
> guardianship of priestesses; some would later be offered as wives to 
> local nobles, others consecrated as priestesses and others offered as 
> human sacrifices.
>
> By analysing stable isotopes found in the hair samples, Dr Wilson and 
> colleagues were able to see that for much of the time prior to 
> sacrifice, the children were fed a diet of vegetables such as potato, 
> suggesting that they came from a peasant background. Stable isotopes 
> of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen from an individual's diet are 
> deposited in their hair where they can remain unchanged over thousands 
> of years.
>
> However, in the twelve months prior to sacrifice, the isotopic 
> evidence shows that the Maiden’s diet changed markedly to one that was 
> enriched with plants such as maize, considered an "elite" food, and 
> protein, likely to have come from charki (dried llama meat).
>
> "Given the surprising change in their diets and the symbolic cutting 
> of their hair, it appears that various events were staged in which the 
> status of the children was raised" says Dr Wilson. "In effect, their 
> countdown to sacrifice had begun some considerable time prior to death."
>
> Changes in the isotopes in the hair sample in the final 3-4 months 
> suggest that the children then began their pilgrimage to the 
> mountains, likely from Cuzco, the Inca capital. Whilst scientists 
> cannot be certain how the children died, it is believed that they were 
> first given maize beer (chicha) and coca leaves, possibly to alleviate 
> the symptoms of altitude sickness and also to inure them to their 
> fate. This theory is supported by evidence of coca metabolites that 
> the researchers found in the victims' hair, and in particularly high 
> concentrations in the Maiden's.
>
> "It looks to us as though the children were led up to the summit 
> shrine in the culmination of a year-long rite, drugged and then left 
> to succumb to exposure," says co-author Dr Timothy Taylor, also of the 
> University of Bradford. "Although some may wish to view these grim 
> deaths within the context of indigenous belief systems, we should not 
> forget that the Inca were imperialists too, and the treatment of such 
> peasant children may have served to instil fear and facilitate social 
> control over remote mountain areas.”
>
> Previous research has shown that Llullaillaco Boy appears to have met 
> a particularly horrific end. His clothes were covered in vomit and 
> diarrhoea, features indicative of a state of terror. The vomit was 
> stained red by the hallucinogenic drug achiote, traces of which were 
> also found in his stomach and faeces. However, his death was likely 
> caused by suffocation, his body apparently having been crushed by his 
> textile wrapping having been drawn so tight that his ribs were crushed 
> and his pelvis dislocated.
>
>
>
> Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Americas Breaking News
> http://web.mac.com/michaelruggeri
>
> Mike Ruggeri's Ancient America and Mesoamerica News and Links
> http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MIKERUGGERISANCIENT/index.html 
>
>
> Mike Ruggeri's Andean Archaeology News and Links
> http://community-2.webtv.net/Topiltzin-2091/MikeRuggerisAndean/index.html
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Aztlan mailing list
> Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
>
> __________ NOD32 2257 (20070511) Information __________
>
> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>
>
> __________ NOD32 2257 (20070511) Information __________
>
> This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>