1. What is a capacocha ceremony? Discuss and give examples of how the authors used Spanish chroniclers’ accounts of these ceremonies and archaeological evidence to form a picture of this important Inca ceremony. Did the archaeological evidence refute or support that found in the accounts of the Spanish? Give examples.
Francisco Pizzaro, a Spanish conquistador was known for finding the “Children of the Sun” empire better known as the Incan Empire. The Incan Empire ruled from 1200 to 1572 and was located South and Central America. Like most ancient civilizations, the Incan Empire had many innovations such as: terrace farming and freeze dried food. However, this empire lacked a written language and a wheel which was helpful for moving goods around. When the Spanish entered this empire they brought diseases such as small pox which led to the downfall…show more content… The Incan Empire sacrificed human bodies as one of the most important offering. A capacocha ceremony is a ritual performed when human bodies were sacrificed with other buried offerings. During Reinhard’s first expedition, he did not find any capacocha sacrifices because, they were not any items or related items associated with this particular ceremony. One of the first findings of the capacocha ceremony was a female sacrifice who was buried along with figurines in the summit. The archaeological findings agree with the historical descriptions of Incan ceremonies (119). For example, the discoveries of the male and female boy at Llullaillaco help to reconstruct the Incan ideal capacocha ceremony. The discovery of Cobo explains how children bodies were sacrificed in order to create alliances and to pay tribute to authorities (114). The children were usually sons and daughters of noble men. Some children even buried alive because it was believed that nothing incomplete was worthy enough to be given to the sun.