The girl’s remains reveal the terrifying power of the Inca empire

Archaeologists have discovered what they describe as “something amiss” in the ancient village at the foot of a hill in the majestic Andes mountain system. The village belonged to the famous Inca empire (also known as Incan or Inka).

Those are four human skulls. Usually, remains are visible in ancient settlements. However, 4 skulls in the ruins of the village called Iglesia Colorada have some strange holes, located in the middle of what looks like an ancient garbage dump with many food scraps, discarded pottery pieces from ancient times. Furthermore, archaeologists found no bones that belonged to the remains, no traces of graves and no burial paraphernalia – very unusual for Inca custom.

The team from the National Museum of Natural History in Santiago measured bone ages and determined that the four skulls were all young women, with low bone density indicating severe malnutrition. Three skulls belong to 16-30 year old girls, while the other is a girl only 11-13 years old.

Subsequent research came up with a tragic explanation. These young women are enemies of the authorities in the area. They were killed, with their skulls strung into a creepy rope used in rituals. That’s why there are strange holes in the skull. The many marks on the bones show the brutal act of dismembering the flesh and skin to remove the skull.

According to the authors, it was the “terrorist power” that the Inca dynasty created to overwhelm the populace and intimidate its enemies. Only women’s remains were used possibly because men – who had the strength to work and fight – were left alive as slaves.

Fortunately, that “terrorist power” was only encapsulated in one dynasty, not spread to the whole empire. The Inca civilization developed in the early 13th century and flourished for the next century.