Scientists identify psychoactive drugs used in Inca sacrifice rituals

Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw conducted toxicological tests on the mummified remains of people sacrificed at mountain shrines within the Inca Empire.

The team examined hair and nail samples from eight mummies found in Peru and Argentina to understand the substances consumed during the capacocha. This ritual involved sacrificing children and young women to serve as intermediaries between humans and deities. The research team identified cocaine in all eight mummies, confirming that the individuals chewed coca leaves.

These leaves served as religious offerings and likely helped the victims manage altitude sickness and exhaustion during their journeys to the mountains. In four of the mummies, the researchers also found traces of alcohol, which may have come from chicha, a corn beer used to calm the victims before the final stage of the ceremony. The study revealed that the ritual was not standardized across the empire.

While all victims used coca, the team found traces of harmine in the Lady of Ampato, also known as Juanita. Harmine is an alkaloid found in plants used to make ayahuasca. This discovery suggests that different regions adapted the capacocha ritual to local religious traditions and specific sacred sites.