The mummified remains of several small children frozen high on a volcano in Southern Peru kept a secret record of their final days.
Since the discovery of the mummies, researchers have been unraveling a shocking tale that ends in human sacrifice.
A new finding by an international team of researchers adds fresh details to their fate, uncovering traces of material in their hair and nails suggestive of high doses of a psychedelic substance.
It is possible that the victims of the capacocha ritual were intoxicated with drugs and alcohol.
The researchers theorize that the use of hallucinogens might have been used to ease the depression of the children.
The remains at the center of this latest study were among a small number of mummies uncovered by US explorer Johan Reinhard and his team in 1995 up the Ampato volcano in the Andes.
The bodies, along with a third found on the same area, would be subject to a rigorous bio-archeological examination that concluded two were most likely young males and the third a female.
All three were 6 or 7 years old.
One showed signs of a malformation in one of his neck bones, putting him at risk of headaches, sudden loss of consciousness, and even blindness.
Evidence of widespread ritualized killings in order to appease or appeal to deities has been found in various states of preservation.
Most were chosen to act as emissaries from wealthy families. Their end came in a number of ways after being led to a place high in the mountains. Some violence. The extreme cold claimed some less traumatically.
The consumption of coca leaves and alcohol was found to be a sign of drug use among the remains.
Coca leaves have been chewed for thousands of years to reduce hunger and boost the nervous system, which would be perfect for children embarking on a trek into the mountains.
In some cases, children were found with the leaves still in their mouths, with signs of having consumed alcohol in high quantities in the moments leading up to their death.
The recent finding of metabolites associated with the consumption of a brew made from ayahuasca is suggestive of a ritual intended to calm rather than awaken.
The researchers used mass spectrometry to identify the presence of coca alkaloids and other substances in the hair nails of the Ampato mummies.
The compounds present in B. caapi are used to create harmaline and harmine, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and vivid, intense hallucinations.
With the test results of the tryptamine N,N-DMT, it is hard to say if any of the concoctions the children consumed produced such an effect, let alone strong ones. There was no evidence of alcohol being consumed or that it was taken too late to show up in their hair and nails.
It is possible that the ayahusca was not intended to produce strong visions, but to reduce their depression and anxiety.
Pulling together scraps of evidence noted by Spanish colonizers or left in archeology and combining it with artifacts left in the anatomy and biochemistry of mummies preserved in the dry cold of the mountains is a chilling tale.
Stimulated and tired, and far from home and loved ones, many esteemed Inka children marched to their deaths, trusting that they would leave the world a better place.
They have waited a long time to tell their story. We are listening at long last.
The Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports published this research.
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