Image Gallery: The Inca Image Gallery: The Inca  Image Gallery:
The Inca Many sacrificed Inca children -- like "Princess of
Ampato," shown in Washington D.C. in 1996 -- were preserved by
the cold and high altitudes of the Andes. See more Inca
pictures.  Joyce Naltchayan/AFP/Getty Images  The Inca believed
they were on to something with child sacrifice. The ritual
killing of perfectly beautiful children high in the Andes
Mountains wasn't something they took lightly. When a child was
offered by his or her parents as a sacrifice, the Inca held
feasts in the child's honor. They wished the child well during
the procession through villages to the mountain peaks where the
ceremony would be held.  Workers built a ceremonial chamber, and
the child received corn alcohol to stave off fear. Scientists
debate how the children died, but explorer and anthropologist
Johan Reinhard believes they died from exposure to the elements.
Before that happened, though, a cushioned blow to the head
knocked the child out, to help preven