Realm of the Ice-cloaked Mountain Gods : high in the Andes hope is melting away

Abstract

For centuries, if not millennia, people of the Andes have venerated their ice-capped mountains, which harbor within their glaciers the sacred waters upon which all life in the region is dependent. It is a tradition evident not only in the region’s rich archaeological record, but one that continues today in the many communities that thrive in the shadows of the awe-inspiring peaks. Over the past decade, our team from Catholic University of Salta has recovered bundles of offerings and sacrifices left on Andean summits, which attest a profound devotion to the mountain gods—the highest found to date atop Llullaillaco, a 6,700-meter-high volcanic peak in northern Argentina. There, 500 years ago, three Inca children were sacrificed and buried along with textiles and amulets on this lofty mountain. As messengers to the realms of the gods, they would intercede for the good health of the Inca emperor and for a plentiful supply of water to ensure fertility of the llama herds and abundant crops.