The Inca Empire, once known as the largest and most powerful society in pre-Columbian America, may not have been as peaceful as often thought. Recent research on skulls found on the empire’s fringes reveals evidence of a darker side: violence used as a tool of control.
Evidence of a Brutal Regime
A research team from the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Chile has published a report analyzing four skulls found in an ancient Inca village. These skulls date back to the “Late Horizon” period of the Inca Empire (1476-1534 AD). However, the four skulls found in the ruins of the village called Iglesia Colorada had strange holes in them and were located in what appeared to be an ancient garbage dump with many discarded food scraps and pottery fragments. In addition, archaeologists found no other bones from the bodies, no sign of graves, and no burial objects – which is very unusual for Inca customs.
The seemingly haphazard way in which these skulls were discarded isn’t the only piece of evidence that points to these victims’ violent end. All the skulls share similar markings: drilled holes and strange marks around the jaws, as though the heads had been scraped. The holes suggest that the skulls were strung up on rope, so that everyone in the village could see the warning, Garrido said. The scrape marks indicate that the jaws were skinned before the heads were put on display — presumably for the shock value, he added.
Analysis shows that these skulls belonged to three young women and one child, with signs of malnutrition. Based on the density of the bone, all the victims were malnourished. Three of the skulls are thought to belong to females aged 16 to 30 and the other one is thought to have belonged to a child around the age of 11.
Young Women’s Heads Chosen As Trophy Skulls
The skulls had been modified in several other ways including “orifices in the cranium vault and defleshing marks in the mandible” and these specific wounds can be accounted for if the skulls had been ritually mounted on sharpened poles as trophy heads, projecting fear and therefore power over the people living in a remote village at the very fringes of the Inca Empire.
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Supporting their idea that the distinctive modifications are “strongly indicative of their use as grim trophies” the team of researchers argue that the pattern of severed head modification may represent new ideological efforts for controlling possible social unrest, which was especially likely “considering the distance of the site from major imperial centers”. This shocking performative application of hyper-violence may have been a tool of maintaining political control to ensure “compliance with Inca rule”, according to the paper.
Why Did the Incas Use Violence?
Researchers suggest that choosing weaker individuals such as women and children instead of strong men was deliberate. In a heartbreaking and disturbing conclusion, the scientists think the reason this demographic was chosen rather than males was to “support the state’s interest in not affecting the labor structure of the population serving as taxpayers in their corvée labor system” (ie. the periodical free labor ordered by the leadership). Violence could have been used to suppress potential uprisings, especially in areas far from the empire’s center like Iglesia Colorada. The remote geographical location made Inca control difficult, thus requiring strong measures to maintain power.
That was the “power of terror” that the Inca dynasty created to overwhelm the people and threaten its enemies. Fortunately, that “terrorist power” was only confined to one dynasty and did not spread throughout the empire. Inca civilization developed from the early 13th century and flourished for a century afterward.
This research provides a new perspective on the Inca Empire, showing that power was not only based on conquest and diplomacy but also on the use of violence to maintain control. This finding also raises questions about the nature of empires and how they maintained dominance. The use of violence as a tool of control is not only characteristic of the Inca Empire but also a common feature of many other empires throughout history. Studies like these help us better understand the past and how ancient societies operated.
