Sacrifices

Almost all rituals were accompanied by some kind of sacrifice, most often guinea pigs or llamas but occasionally children. Most huacas were given llamas or guinea pies. The main deities—Viracocha, the Creator; Inti, the Sun; and Illapa, the Thunder—always had distinctive colored llamas sacrificed to them: brown to Viracocha, white to Inti, and mixed color to Illapa. The animal was sacrificed by having its throat cut. Food, chicha, and coca were also given to huacas as sacrifices. The food and coca were usually burned, whereas the chicha was poured on the ground (Rowe 1946: 306-307). Cumbi cloth was also an important sacrificial item, especially to the Sun. Seashells, gold, silver, and corn flour were used as offerings as well.

The most important ceremonies, natural catastrophes, war, and the coronation of new kings involved sacrifices of humans—always children between the ages of 10 and 15. The children, always non-Incas, had to be physically perfect. The procedure involved a feast for the child so he or she would not go to Viracocha hungry. Following the feast the child would be strangled, its throat cut, or its heart cut out and offered to the deity still beating (Rowe 1946: 306). Sometimes children were sacrificed to mountain huacas by bringing them to the summit, getting them drunk, and then killing them (Reinhard 1992: 99-101).

The practice of child sacrifice might appear cruel to the reader, but one must remember that the sacrifice only occurred for the most important religious reasons. Humans were sacrificed for these events because they were considered the most worthy thing that could be offered to the gods. Children, rather than adults, were offered presumably because they were more pure in spirit than adults. Although it was no doubt a painful emotional experience for the families of the sacrificed children, to be selected was considered a great honor by both the child and his or her family.