Above are 4 skulls found during excavations at the most holy of ancient Inca sites in Cusco, called the Coricancha. As you can see, the cards state that they are presumed to be from the mid 15th century, and thus would appear to Inca people, as the first Spanish did not appear in the area until 1532 or 1533. The skulls were likely nobility, as commoners would not have been buried in a sacred place like this.

The drawing above is a representation of one of the most famous of the Inca rulers, Pachacutec, who was the supposed builder of Machu Pic’chu (Machu Picchu.) Is the helmet on his head simply an appealing design, or does it hint at the ancient shape of the Inca skull? Most of the royal Inca were dead due to a civil war when the Spanish first arrived in Cusco, so the conquistadors met very few of them.

Other very interesting skulls have been found in the Cusco area, such as the Huayqui skeleton above; discovered in an ancient cemetery about an hour from Cusco. She has been radiocarbon dated at being 800 years old, and thus lived during Inca times. What tribal or cultural affiliation she had is unknown, but she was buried in a royal tomb near the village of Andahuaylillas, and likely died at about 2 years old.

During excavations at Machu Picchu in the early 20th century, more than 100 skeletons were found, some, as the photo above shows, having elongated skulls. As Machu Picchu was a secret place of the nobility of the Inca, it is likely that only those of a royal heritage would have been buried there. No DNA testing has been done on these elongated skulls as far as the author knows…so far.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing mummies ever discovered is that seen in the above photo. It was examined by doctors in the mid 19th century and was found out to be a fetus with an elongated head. The present whereabouts of this mummy is unknown, but is likely in the vast collection of 10,000 Peruvian skulls and skeletons housed in the Tello Museum in Lima. Join us on a very special tour in August of 2017 that focuses on the elongated skulls; full details HERE.

My book about the elongated skulls of Peru and Bolivia is available HERE in both e-book format and paper back.