What did the Incas do for sacrifice and if they had sacrifices is there evidence that they did?

Answer 1

The Inca committed sacrificial acts in many different ways. Human sacrifice was very rare and less than a dozen cases have been proven attributable to the Inca, however many other forms were implemented.

In the construction of a new home a baby llama was slaughtered, dried, and buried within the foundation to bring prosperity to the family that lived within.

The Sapa (ruling) Inca were believed to assist in the ruling of the empire after their deaths. The ceremonial sacrifice of cloth, food, precious metals and other goods were made by oracles on behalf of the current Sapa to appease their spirits was commonplace.

Most ceremonies and festivals would often include the sacrifice of livestock.

The Inca had a system of tax whereby a third of all that a citizen produced was given directly to the Sapa. As no one person could possibly utilize one third of what a 13 million strong empire could produce it can be said that this was a sacrifice. (on that note, the Sapa was considered a god as much as a king, so it could be said that this tax was paid to appease god)

A secondary tax known as mita also existed. This was more a tax paid by labor and all citizens of the empire were required to spend a part of their year working for the government in whatever field was their specialty. As this meant a certain amount of neglect of their home duties it can also be somewhat considered a sacrifice.

Incas also had human-sacrificial ceremonies, called a Capocha Ritual.

These usually took place if the Inca wanted to get help after earthquakes, droughts, plagues, or war defeats.

Flawless, unblemished children were chosen for this. It was an honour for the child and his/her family to be chosen. During the course of these rituals, the child and his/her family were taken to see the emperor. Then a feast was held in the child's honour.

Finally, the child was taken high up into the Andes Mountains, and placed in a structure made especially for this purpose. The child was then left there to die in the cold. After the ritual, statues were made in the child's honour, as the Incas believed that the child would then become a deity, or a god.