Archaeologists Found an Inca Sacrifice Inside a Nightmare Volcano

By: Greg Schmalzel

Humans have always been fascinated by volcanos. I mean, how could we not be? They’re huge, powerful, and dangerous. We hike them, study them, and try to prepare for their eruptions as best we can. But what if I told you they were used for human sacrifices in prehistoric times?

Throughout history, people often settled around volcanos. The remains of Pompeii and Akrotiri come to mind. But, archaeologists have uncovered a site that showcases an even more intimate relationship between people and these geologic features. They found an Inca ritual site nearly 20,000 feet above sea level, within the crater of a Peruvian volcano. Stone tombs, artifacts, and most interestingly, human remains whispered of a time when people were in regular communication with the supernatural. They used the raw power of a volcano to bridge the human and the divine.

Picture the jagged walls of blackened rock. The air, thick with sulfur and mist. Ancient Americans once hiked in single file toward this eerie setting high above the clouds, carrying bundles of precious metals and woven cloth. Some of the hikers were there to conduct the sacrifice. Others were the sacrifice. They knew what was inevitably going to happen. What were they thinking about on their trek? Were they overcome by fear? Begging as they got dragged up the slope with thoughts of their family back home? Or did they feel empowered that they were the chosen ones, deemed fit to be offered to the gods?

It’s a tale of a civilization that pressed its beliefs into the planet’s most violent crucible: A tale about what humans are willing to do to reach the gods: A tale about belief systems taking humans to the extremes of the earth. This is the Inca sacrifice at Misti.

For the full YouTube video, click HERE.

Who were the Inca?

The Inca forged arguably South America’s greatest empire. Starting as a tiny kingdom in the Cusco Valley, it was built into a two-million-square-kilometer powerhouse by the early 1500s. With major settlements in Peru, the Inca spanned most of the west coast of South America at its greatest extent. 

They conquered lands with an unstoppable army, but they also mastered soft power. They redistributed food and luxury goods. They co-opted local gods and imposed a unifying state religion. These less combative tactics were effective for building a culturally cohesive society. As a society, they were very connected to the natural world. Every mountain, spring, and forest had significance.

Capacocha Rituals

In the ancient Andes, local communities worshipped sacred places and objects called huacas—mountains, springs, or stones believed to house powerful spirits. One of the most dramatic ways the Inca honored these sacred forces was through the capacocha ritual: a state-sponsored ceremony that combined high-status offerings with human sacrifice. The name blends qhapaq (royal) and qocha (water), reflecting its ties to fertility and the divine.

Capacochas were performed for major imperial events—like royal deaths or victories—or in response to natural disasters like droughts, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The Inca chose children from noble or local families, prized for their beauty and purity. Adorned in fine clothes and accompanied by gold, silver, and luxury goods, they were led on long pilgrimages to remote shrines, often at dizzying altitudes. Many were buried alive or suffocated—bloodless deaths meant to keep the body “unblemished” for the gods.

While chilling by today’s standards, these sacrifices were sacred acts of political and spiritual power. For the Inca, they weren’t executions—they were offerings of the highest order.

Archaeological discoveries of these sacrifices began in the 1800s—often at the hands of looters. But in the 1990s, archaeologist Johan Reinhard and his team began uncovering frozen Inca sacrifices high in the Andes. That search would eventually lead them to one volcano unlike any other…

The Misti Volcano

Towering nearly 20,000 feet above sea level, Misti is the dramatic volcanic backdrop to the city of Arequipa, Peru. Its snowcapped peak hides a massive crater—about 950 meters wide and 120 meters deep—formed by repeated eruptions and collapses over thousands of years. Though dormant today, Misti remains a threat; even a moderate eruption could send ash and debris into the city below. Since 2005, a volcano observatory in Arequipa has closely monitored its activity, issuing hazard maps and raising public awareness.

Geologically, Misti is part of a volcanic trio, alongside Chachani and Pichu Pichu. It was built in four major eruptive phases, each layering lava and ash across the landscape. Its last major eruptions occurred around 2,000 years ago and again around 1450 AD.

To the Inca, Misti was more than a mountain—it was a living, angry god. After the 15th-century eruption, Emperor Pachacutec and his queen are said to have led offerings and sacrifices to calm the volcano’s rage. Some explorers even reported seeing mysterious structures in the crater. But for centuries, that remained folklore—until archaeologist Johan Reinhard led an expedition that uncovered something extraordinary inside Misti’s crater, finally turning myth into archaeological fact.

The Misti Expedition

Socha, D., et al. 2021. “Inca Human Sacrifices on Misti Volcano (Peru).” Latin American Antiquity 32(1):138-153.

In 1998, archaeologist Johan Reinhard and his team climbed into the crater of Peru’s Misti volcano—and made what may be the most spectacular capacocha discovery ever. Rather than at the summit, the site was carefully placed on the inner rim of the crater, likely to appease the volcanic deity believed to dwell in the active fumaroles just below.

The team uncovered two stone-lined tombs and a ritual platform, arranged in a symmetrical design: two circular tombs flanked by rectangular features. The acidic, sulfur-rich soil and heat had badly degraded the remains, so the archaeologists froze the soil overnight by pouring water on it—then extracted entire frozen blocks to preserve the bodies.

Evidence of lightning strikes on the burials was striking—no pun intended. The Inca believed lightning was linked to Illapa, the god of thunder and weather. Burying sacrifices in such exposed, metal-rich places may have been an intentional way to summon divine power.

In 2018, the preserved blocks were thawed and studied. Tomb C2 (“male”) held five or six boys, mostly age 6, with one older child showing a leg deformity. Tomb C3 (“female”) held three girls. Grave goods—gold, silver, and copper figurines—matched the likely sex of the children, suggesting a strong ritual pairing between person and offering.

Why Misti is Special?

Let’s zoom out for a moment. The sacrifices uncovered at Misti weren’t the only ones found across the Andes—but they were unlike any others. Sites like Llullaillaco and Ampato yielded well-preserved mummies and fine offerings, but typically only one to three individuals, each buried alone on summit platforms. Pichu Pichu and Quehuar revealed even fewer: one or two sacrifices, often placed carefully within stone circles.

Misti, by contrast, shattered expectations. It’s the only capacocha ever found inside a volcanic crater—not on the summit, but within the mouth of the volcano itself. It’s also the first with more than three bodies, and the only one using collective tombs buried underground. Eight (possibly nine) children were interred here, their bodies paired with gendered figurines and elite goods. Why such scale? The answer likely lies in urgency—perhaps a powerful eruption or spiritual crisis required a dramatic response.

Getting to the top of Misti wasn’t easy. Unlike sites like Machu Picchu, there’s no formal Inca road. The steep slopes and extreme altitude meant this ritual took real planning—and real effort. That alone tells us something about the importance of this ceremony.

And what about their state of mind? Were they altered by ritual substances, as seen in other Indigenous traditions? We may never know, but if Misti sparked your curiosity, check out my video on peyote and ancient psychedelics in the Americas. You might be surprised by what early humans were willing to experience—for the gods.

Sources:

[1] Misti: los secretos del mayor sacrificio de niños y niñas que los incas realizaron para apaciguar a un volcán en Perú (Misti: the secrets of the greatest sacrifice of children that the Incas made to appease a volcano in Peru)

[2] Socha, D., et al. 2021. “Inca Human Sacrifices on Misti Volcano (Peru).” Latin American Antiquity 32(1):138-153.

[3] Reinhard, J. and Ceruti, C. 2006. “Sacred Mountains, Ceremonial Sites, and Human Sacrifice Among the Incas.” Archaeoastronomy 19, 1-43.

[4] Reinhard, J. and Ceruti, M. 2010. Inca RItuals and Saced MountaIns A Study of the World’s Highest Archaeological Sites. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology University of California, Los Angeles