Deep in the Andes, atop the frozen summit of Llullaillaco volcano on the border of Argentina and Chile, archaeologists once found the remarkably preserved remains of three Inca children sacrificed centuries ago. Now a new scientific analysis has pinned down almost exactly when this ritual took place, and why it may have happened. By dating the plant offerings buried alongside the children rather than relying on the mummies themselves, researchers have narrowed a decades old mystery down to a single likely year, linking the sacrifice to the political ambitions of one of the last great Inca emperors as his empire pushed into new and unfamiliar territory.
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