It’s important to remember that past civilizations were a lot less…civilized…and had less knowledge of the way the world works. Which probably contributed to the human sacrifices made back then, mostly to appease their “Gods.”
One such ancient civilization that took part in these types of rituals was the Inca. Incans would use children in a ritual that came to be known as “Qhapag Hucha.” High priests of the tribe would take the children to the highest peaks of their area and strangle them, bash their heads, or leave them behind to freeze to death – all in an effort to make their God happy. Incans used children for these rituals because they were viewed as “pure.”
Melting Away
The fact that the atmosphere of the Earth is steadily becoming warmer is one reason why these discoveries are being made year after year recently. On the other hand, the melting of these ice sheets is actually contributing to the rising temperatures, too.
As terrifying as global warming is if you really stop to think about it, at least it makes it possible for scientists to research all of these amazing discoveries from thousands to millions of years ago. And fortunately, the Earth will most likely remain intact for the rest of our lifetime. However, scientists have noted that these glaciers are currently melting at a rate that’s over 4-times as fast as they were disappearing before the 1970s.
Otzi
The Otzi man is perhaps one of the most well-preserved human bodies from BCE times. The corpse was discovered in the Austrian Alps in 1991 by two tourists who thought they’d stumbled upon someone more…recently deceased. The body was so intact that scientists were able to determine that his last meal was something like bacon, although it was most likely made from goat.
Researchers said that the man, who was about 5’3 when he died, was extremely sick. This poor guy suffered from a number of ailments before his death, including gallstones and whipworms, which are parasites of the intestines. Though surprisingly enough, it wasn’t the illnesses that killed him, but rather a blow to the head.
Ice Age Puppers
Deep in the frozen tundra of Siberia, hunters happened to find a creature that was a little less scary and a bit more adorable. The discovery was a group of small canines with their snouts sticking out of the ice. Scientists who studied them found they’d been eating a lot of grass – which they think means that they were abandoned by mom or got lost, and were starving before they froze.
The hunters that made the original discovery were actually out in the region in search of mammoth tusks. The bodies were found with their skin and guts intact and were estimated to be nearly 12,500 years old. In many ways, they were similar to modern dogs.
The Kingfisher
The Kingfisher is a kind of bird who actually happens to freeze to death in ice more often than most other birds. Why? Mainly because the Kingfisher isn’t scared to dive straight into it to find food. Unfortunately, this means many end up freezing before they’re able to finish their dinner.
This particular bird was found in Bavaria. In France, people often skate around on the frozen canals, where the birds can be seen both already frozen and diving in to search for food. The poor birds are just hungry; it’s unfortunate they don’t have an alternate source of food. Maybe the ice skaters could bring them supper, so they don’t need to risk their lives…