Capacocha or Qhapaq hucha[1] (Quechua: qhapaq noble, solemn, principal, mighty, royal, hucha crime, sin, guilt[2][3] Hispanicized spellings Capac cocha, Capaccocha, Capacocha, also qhapaq ucha) was an important sacrificial rite among the Inca that typically involved the sacrifice of children.[4] Children of both sexes were selected from across the Inca empire for sacrifice in capacocha ceremonies,[5] which were performed at important shrines distributed across the empire, known as huacas, or wak'akuna.[6]
Capacocha ceremonies took place under several circumstances. Some could be undertaken as the result of key events in the life of the Sapa Inca, the Inca Emperor, such as his ascension to the throne, an illness, his death, the birth of a son.[7] At other times, Capacocha ceremonies were undertaken to stop natural disasters and performed in major festivals or processions at important ceremonial sites.[7] The rationale for this type of sacrificial rite has typically been understood as the Inca trying to ensure that humanity's best were sent to join their deities.[5]
The children chosen for sacrifice in a capacocha ceremony were typically given alcohol and coca leaves[8] and deposited at the place of the ceremony. Sacrifice was primarily carried out through four methods: strangulation, a blow to the head, suffocation, or being buried alive while unconscious,[7][9] though if the ceremony was carried out in a particularly cold place, they could die from hypothermia.[10][failed verification] Some Spanish records tell of Incas removing victims' hearts, but no evidence of this has been found in the archaeological record; it seems more likely that this practice was witnessed by the Spaniards among the Aztecs and wrongly attributed to the Incas as well.[7]
^Of Summits and Sacrifice: An Ethnohistoric Study of Inka Religious Practices, University of Texas Press, 2009
^Teofilo Laime Ajacopa (2007). Diccionario Bilingüe: Iskay simipi yuyayk’anch: Quechua – Castellano / Castellano – Quechua(PDF). La Paz, Bolivia: futatraw.ourproject.org.
^"Diccionario: Quechua - Español - Quechua, Simi Taqe: Qheswa - Español - Qheswa" (PDF). Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua. Gobierno Regional del Cusco, Perú: Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua. 2005.
^Andrushko, Valerie A.; Buzon, Michele R.; Gibaja, Arminda M.; McEwan, Gordon F.; Simonetti, Antonio; Creaser, Robert A. (February 2011). "Investigating a child sacrifice event from the Inca heartland". Journal of Archaeological Science. 38 (2): 323–333. Bibcode:2011JArSc..38..323A. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.009.
^ abD'Altroy, Terence N. (2003). The Incas (Reprinted ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Pub. ISBN 1-4051-1676-5.
^Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcdReinhard, Johan; Ceruti, Constanza (June 2005). "Sacred Mountains, Ceremonial Sites, and Human Sacrifice Among the Incas". Archaeoastronomy. 19: 1–43.
^Wilson, Andrew S.; Brown, Emma L.; Villa, Chiara; Lynnerup, Niels; Healey, Andrew; Ceruti, Maria Constanza; Reinhard, Johan; Previgliano, Carlos H.; Araoz, Facundo Arias; Diez, Josefina Gonzalez; Taylor, Timothy (2013-08-13). "Archaeological, radiological, and biological evidence offer insight into Inca child sacrifice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (33): 13322–13327. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11013322W. doi:10.1073/pnas.1305117110. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3746857. PMID 23898165.
^Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^MAAM (2010), Guía de referencia de la exposición, Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña de Salta
Capacocha or Qhapaq hucha (Quechua: qhapaq noble, solemn, principal, mighty, royal, hucha crime, sin, guilt Hispanicized spellings Capac cocha, Capaccocha...
The Aconcagua mummy is an Incan capacocha mummy of a seven-year-old boy, dated to around the year 1500. The mummy is well-preserved, due to the extreme...
strangulation and suffocation (burying alive). The ritual sacrifice called Capacocha (or Qhapaq hucha) was a key component to the Inca Empire. This ritual...
Plomo Mummy was the first notable frozen mummy discovery of high-altitude Capacocha human sacrifice by the Incas, a practice called qhapaq hucha. The original...
A few were destined to be sacrificed in a religious ceremony called capacocha. Several archaeological contexts for aclla have been identified, specifically...
Botanique, vo. 1 Paris 1808. Mignone, Pablo (2010). "Ritualidad estatal, capacocha y actores sociales locales: El Cementerio del volcán Llullaillaco". Estudios...
emperor Atahualpa by conquering Spaniards. Child sacrifice, referred to as capacocha or qhapaq hucha, was an important part of the Inca religion and was often...
a threat and during the 1440–1470 eruption offered human sacrifices (capacocha) on its summit and that of its neighbours to calm the volcano down; the...
the sun." The Inca took part in spiritual human sacrifices known as the Capacocha. These sacrifices were taken out onto mountains throughout the Andes and...
aplicado a tumbas incaicas. Distribución de objetos y cuerpos humanos en la "capacocha" del volcán Llullaillaco, Argentina". Revista Española de Antropología...
presumably used for equinox and solstice feasts. Notably, no human sacrifices (capacocha) are associated with Licancabur. Another site, Tambo de Licancabur or...
these places acted as portal to the gods. Ritual child sacrifices called Capacochas were conducted annually, where the most precious gift that could be given...
example, children from all over the Inca Empire were selected for the capacocha (sacrificial rite marking important events). Sacrificed children, according...
administrative centers of the empire. This strategy was working through the Capacocha ceremonies (rites that might involve also the sacrifice of children) which...
to better understand the ceremonial and political implications of the capacocha ritual.: 27 The children were in good health before their deaths, and...
Such sacrifices with children being the usual subjects are known as capacocha and the discoveries of their mummies on mountains in the Andes has gained...
Compositional Analysis of Pottery Vessels Associated with the Inca Ritual of Capacocha (co-authored with Tamara Bray, Minc, L., Ceruti, C., Perea, R. & Chávez...
as e.g. walls. Nevertheless, evidence of Inka human sacrifice known as capacocha was found during archeological expeditions; a finding from 1896 is the...
The Inca built a path on to the mountain and offered human sacrifices, capacochas, on Pichu Pichu. Three mummies, two girls and one boy, were discovered...
volcano may have been a stopover for religious ceremonies to its summit. Capacocha, a form of human sacrifice, were offered to the mountain; reportedly,...
ISSN 0035-7529. S2CID 129748000. Aráoz, Claudio Javier Patané (2015). "Una capacocha inca en Salinas Grandes (La Poma, Salta). El tupu y el plato del "Niño...