The Might of the Great Inca Empire Was Built on a Foundation of Terror, as Recent Findings Reveal
Archaeologists have discovered what they describe as “something unsettling” in an ancient village at the foot of a hill in the majestic Andes mountain range. This village belonged to the renowned Inca Empire.
Four human skulls were found. Typically, skeletons are common in ancient settlements. However, the four skulls from the ruins of a village named Iglesia Colorada exhibited odd puncture wounds, situated in what appears to be… an ancient refuse site filled with food debris and discarded pottery from long ago. Furthermore, the archaeologists did not find any other bones belonging to the rest of the bodies, no signs of graves, and no burial goods – which is highly unusual for Inca customs.
One of the skulls – (photo provided by the research team)
The research team from the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago conducted age assessments on the bones and determined that all four skulls belonged to young females, showing low bone density indicative of severe malnutrition. Three skulls belonged to girls aged 16-30, while the remaining one was of a girl aged only 11-13.
A broken skull temporarily reattached – (photo provided by the research team)
The subsequent research process provided a profoundly tragic explanation. These young women were enemies of the ruling authorities in the region. They were killed, and their skulls strung together as a necklace used in rituals. This explains the strange holes in the skulls. Many marks on the bones indicate brutal acts of skinning and butchering to access the skulls.
Inca pyramid, a famous symbol – (photo: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)
According to the authors, this was a form of “terror power” that the Inca dynasty created to dominate the populace and intimidate their enemies. Only the remains of women were utilized for this purpose, as men – who were more valuable for labor and combat – were kept alive to serve as slaves.
Fortunately, this “terror power” was confined to a single dynasty and did not spread throughout the entire empire. The Inca civilization thrived from the early 13th century and flourished for a century thereafter.
These findings were recently published in the scientific journal Latin American Antiquity.
