February
03
/ 2026
A new bioarchaeological study has identified what researchers describe as the first known case of deliberate mummification applied to a child sacrificed during the Inca capacocha ritual. The finding comes from CT scans of frozen child mummies recovered from the high Andes, and it suggests that in at least one case the body was modified after death, possibly transported, and even “repaired” in a symbolic sense. The research team, led by bioarchaeologist Dagmara Socha (University of Warsaw), used computed tomography to examine four naturally preserved child mummies from the Ampato and Sara Sara volcanoes in Peru, revealing injuries, disease indicators, and post-depositional damage that cannot be assessed reliably from surface inspection alone, reports PAP. Capacocha: Ritualized Child Sacrifice in the
