THE remains of five llamas that may have been ritually sacrificed by Incas have been found in Peru. "I have no way to prove it, but I think they were buried alive," says Lidio Valdez at the University of Calgary in Canada. He says the llamas don't have injuries like knife wounds to their throats, which would point to different methods of killing. The Inca Empire dominated western regions of South America for several hundred years, until Spain invaded in the 1500s. Llamas were central to its success, providing transport, skin, fibre, fertiliser and meat. "In addition to that, the Incas believed llamas were sacred," says Valdez.
展开▼
