Toxic Pigment in a Capacocha Burial: Instrumental Identification of Cinnabar in Inca Human Remains from Iquique, Chile

B. Arriaza; J. P. Ogalde; M. Campos; C. Paipa; PATRICIO ALEJANDRO LEYTON BONGIORNO; N. Lara

doi:10.1111/arcm.12392

Toxic Pigment in a Capacocha Burial: Instrumental Identification of Cinnabar in Inca Human Remains from Iquique, Chile

B. Arriaza, J. P. Ogalde, M. Campos, C. Paipa, PATRICIO ALEJANDRO LEYTON BONGIORNO, N. Lara

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on the analysis of a red pigment found in a lavish Inca burial from Cerro Esmeralda, Chile, associated with the human sacrifice of two young girls. The outcome shows that the red pigment is mainly cinnabar, with 95% of HgS content. Cinnabar is rarely found in the archaeological record of Chile. Thus, we propose that our results are another line of evidence supporting Iquique's Cerro Esmeralda inhumation as a unique Inca ritual. It was a special lower-elevation capacocha burial, most probably undertaken to politically and symbolically incorporate the coastal people into the Tawantinsuyo Empire.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1324-1333
Number of pages	10
Journal	Archaeometry
Volume	60
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12392
State	Published - 1 Dec 2018

Keywords

ancient poisoning
Cerro Esmeralda
mercury
mortuary rituals
Raman spectroscopy
red pigments
SEM

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title = "Toxic Pigment in a Capacocha Burial: Instrumental Identification of Cinnabar in Inca Human Remains from Iquique, Chile",

abstract = "We report on the analysis of a red pigment found in a lavish Inca burial from Cerro Esmeralda, Chile, associated with the human sacrifice of two young girls. The outcome shows that the red pigment is mainly cinnabar, with 95% of HgS content. Cinnabar is rarely found in the archaeological record of Chile. Thus, we propose that our results are another line of evidence supporting Iquique's Cerro Esmeralda inhumation as a unique Inca ritual. It was a special lower-elevation capacocha burial, most probably undertaken to politically and symbolically incorporate the coastal people into the Tawantinsuyo Empire.",

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AU - Campos, M.

AU - Paipa, C.

AU - LEYTON BONGIORNO, PATRICIO ALEJANDRO

AU - Lara, N.

PY - 2018/12/1

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N2 - We report on the analysis of a red pigment found in a lavish Inca burial from Cerro Esmeralda, Chile, associated with the human sacrifice of two young girls. The outcome shows that the red pigment is mainly cinnabar, with 95% of HgS content. Cinnabar is rarely found in the archaeological record of Chile. Thus, we propose that our results are another line of evidence supporting Iquique's Cerro Esmeralda inhumation as a unique Inca ritual. It was a special lower-elevation capacocha burial, most probably undertaken to politically and symbolically incorporate the coastal people into the Tawantinsuyo Empire.

AB - We report on the analysis of a red pigment found in a lavish Inca burial from Cerro Esmeralda, Chile, associated with the human sacrifice of two young girls. The outcome shows that the red pigment is mainly cinnabar, with 95% of HgS content. Cinnabar is rarely found in the archaeological record of Chile. Thus, we propose that our results are another line of evidence supporting Iquique's Cerro Esmeralda inhumation as a unique Inca ritual. It was a special lower-elevation capacocha burial, most probably undertaken to politically and symbolically incorporate the coastal people into the Tawantinsuyo Empire.

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KW - Cerro Esmeralda

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KW - Raman spectroscopy

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KW - SEM

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Toxic Pigment in a Capacocha Burial: Instrumental Identification of Cinnabar in Inca Human Remains from Iquique, Chile

Abstract

Keywords

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