Andean Volcanoes and Inca Shrines

/ 25/12/2025

Along the western edge of South America, the Andes Mountains encompass one of the largest concentrations of volcanoes on Earth. Many of these volcanoes are active, and in the historical record of just the past few centuries, eruptions have devastated villages, contaminated rivers and streams, and killed many people and animals. Today, active volcanoes threaten cities in the central Andes.

Thousands of years ago, people began moving into the Andes Mountains, developing technologies that allowed their societies to flourish in high and cold mountains. These mountains are a challenging place to live, where erratic weather, low oxygen levels, and short growing seasons can make life difficult. Besides volcanic eruptions, there are frequent large earthquakes, avalanches, floods and droughts. Despite these obstacles, the ancient people thrived, culminating in the Inca Empire, the last and greatest of the ancient Andean societies. The Incas built one of the most impressive empires in history, and the monuments they left behind, from Machu Picchu to Sacsayhuaman and many more, continue to be admired today.

Ancient Andean societies, along with many others worldwide, considered majestic, snow-covered mountains to be sacred. The Incas built shrines on the highest mountains, most notably on active volcanoes, as ceremonial places for offerings and occasionally for human sacrifices. Leaders made offerings to deities when volcanic eruptions or other natural hazards threatened societies—as well as when they celebrated a new ruler or important birth, commemorated a death, or sought successful harvests of crops. Those who selected mountaintop sites on active volcanoes for their rituals likely believed that angry gods controlled eruptions and that placating these deities was crucial.

Llullaillaco volcano (elevation 6,739 m/22,110 ft); the last explosive eruption of the volcano occurred in 1877 (Wikimedia, 2010)

Volcanoes in the Central Andes

The Andes Mountains extend for about 8,900 km (5,500 mi) along the western border of South America—they are the longest continental mountain range in the world. Located above a subduction zone where the Pacific plate is plunging beneath the South American plate, it is a highly active tectonic region within the Ring of Fire. Volcanologists estimate that over 100 Andean volcanoes have been erupting in the past 10,000 years or so, with another 100 volcanoes considered potentially active because of evidence of unrest, such as earthquake activity or gas discharge. The Andes also encompass the tallest volcanoes on land, including the two highest standing over 6,700 m (or about 22,000 ft), above sea level: Ojos del Salado and Llullaillaco, both active and on the northern border between Argentina and Chile.

Volcanic activity is occurring in four distinct zones. Named the Northern, Central, Southern, and Austral zones, wide gaps separate the areas with active volcanoes from those with none.

Map of four volcanic zones along the Andes Mountains (modified from Ramos and Aleman, 2000, Figure 26)

The Central Volcanic Zone extends from southern Peru into Bolivia, northern Chile, and Argentina. Within this zone are 44 major and 18 minor active volcanic centers. Presently, the level of activity within this zone is low, but since these volcanic centers have been active within the past 10,000 years, scientists consider them capable of erupting in the future. The Central Volcanic Zone overlies a segment of the subducting plate that is sloping down toward the mantle with approximately 25 to 30° dip. To the north is the Peruvian flat slab segment of the subduction zone, where active volcanoes are currently absent and earthquakes predominate.

The Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution reports that during the Holocene, 13 volcanoes have erupted in Peru, 32 in Argentina, and 90 in Chile; in the centuries since 1800 CE, 46 volcanoes have erupted (5, 6, and 35, respectively for those countries). Within modern Peru, the birthplace of the Incas, several destructive eruptions have been recorded.

A devastating volcanic eruption took place in 1600 CE at Huaynaputina, about 80 km (50 mi) southeast of the modern city of Arequipa in southern Peru. Huaynaputina, or Waynaputina, means “young volcano” in Quechua, the language of the Incas. The 1600 explosion blanketed a vast region in volcanic ash up to 1.8 m (6 ft) deep, destroying entire villages and causing widespread destruction of settlements and crops. The Huaynaputina lahars of volcanic mud flowed downhill as far as 120 km (75 mi) to the Pacific Ocean, engulfing several villages within a broad swath along the route.

There are other active volcanoes near Arequipa, which has a population of around one million people. Ubinas volcano, about 72 km (45 mi) east of Arequipa, has erupted 23 times at low-to-moderate magnitudes in the past 500 years. From April 2006 through 2023, volcanic activity and lahars regularly damaged communities and required evacuations in the region around this volcano. Sabancaya volcano, about 64 km (40 mi) northwest of Arequipa, has a historical record with confirmed eruptions back to 1750. Increased activity in 1986 led to an explosive eruption in 1990. Most recently, Sabancaya has been in an eruption period since November 2016, with frequent gas and ash plumes and low-power thermal activity, along with earthquakes indicating rock fracturing events.

Perhaps the most potentially catastrophic volcano in Peru is Misti, a spectacular circular cone that soars to over 5,790 m (19,000 ft) only 16 km (10 mi) from Arequipa’s densely populated urban center. Vents releasing steam and volcanic gases have been active near the summit of the mountain within the past century. The last major eruption of Misti took place between about 2300 BCE and 2050 BCE, and there was a low-intensity eruption during Inca times, in the mid-1400s. Arequipa citizens have constructed city structures on the rocks of Misti lava flows that erupted only 2,000 years ago.

Misti volcano above Arequipa, Peru (Wikimedia, 2020)

Shrines of the Incas

The Incas assembled their empire in less than one hundred years, using the foundation of thousands of years of ancient Andean traditions and technologies. Initially based in the Cuzco region, now in modern southern Peru, the Incas began incorporating adjoining territories around 1438 CE. By the time the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1532 CE, the Inca Empire had expanded northwards to modern southern Columbia and southwards to the Bolivian highlands, northwest Argentina and central Chile. Along with fabulous monumental complexes and thousands of kilometers of stone-paved roads, the Incas constructed nearly 200 mountaintop shrines on Andean peaks over 5000 m (16,400 ft) in elevation.

Shrines on the secondary summit of Llullaillaco, border of Argentina and Chile (Wikimedia, 2012)

No other society on Earth has constructed complex structures in extreme high-altitude environments. Aztec shrines are often on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, but at lower elevations and lacking the architectural complexities of their Andean counterparts. There are no mountaintop shrines in the Himalayas, where traditions can forbid ascents to the most sacred summits.

Artifacts from Inca shrines on mountaintops in southern Peru and northern Chile and Argentina provide hints about the ancient ceremonies conducted, including human sacrifices. There are no first-hand historical accounts of the high-altitude ceremonies from the Spanish Colonial period, and the Incas and their ancestors did not have a writing system that we recognize. However, one Spanish chronicler, Vasquez de Espinoza, describes the devastating 1600 CE Huaynaputina eruption in a text circa 1629. He reported that the indigenous peoples climbed to the top of the mountain and made human sacrifices in which the volcano would “swallow” the victims; the purpose presumably was to appease eruptions.

Interestingly, the locations of the Inca mountaintop shrines overlap the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, where ancient Andeans surely had views of active volcanoes releasing steam, ash, or molten lava. While we cannot know for sure why the Incas selected specific peaks for their shrines and sacrifices, the correlation of these sites with this volcanically active zone strikes me as not simply a coincidence.

Today we understand the science of volcanoes. Those who live in volcanic regions can receive warnings of eruptions in advance. That wasn’t the case for ancient Andeans. When a volcano burst into action, decimating communities and lives, people attempted to appease the angry gods they believed responsible for these violent disturbances. The Incas who built shrines on high peaks for offerings and sacrifices cast themselves as mediators between human society and deities.

Many mountaintop shrines have suffered damage after centuries of weathering from wind and water, lightning strikes, and looting by devious mountaineers. Nonetheless, researchers have recovered a variety of intriguing artifacts in the past few decades. On small stone platforms and in stone block enclosures, they have found an assortment of common objects such as llama bones, feathers, coca leaves, maize, pottery, and fiber cords. In some undisturbed shrines, archaeologists have found high-status goods of fine ceramics, exquisite textiles, Spondylus shells, feathered items, and elaborate gold and silver artifacts.

Mummy of a young woman discovered on Llullaillaco (Wikimedia, 2012)

Most notable among the offerings from Inca mountaintop shrines are the frozen bodies of children and young women, sacrificed on the mountain peaks as part of important religious rituals. Officials selected boys and girls from throughout the empire for these roles because of their beauty, as only the best could be worthy to join the gods. Many were the children of elites and dignitaries. Having a child chosen for these important ceremonies reportedly brought great honor to a family, although it also must have brought great sadness. Pilgrimages were sometimes taken to reach a sacred site, with groups walking for months while accompanying the individuals to be sacrificed. The ritual sacrifices that took place on the slopes of the highest volcanic peaks in the Andes involved strenuous climbs for anyone, but especially for children. The mountaineering skills, as well as the faith of the Incas, were formidable.

On Aconcagua, the tallest peak outside of Asia with a summit elevation of 6,960 m (22,837 ft), mountaineers found the mummy of a young boy buried inside a stone structure at 5,303 m (17,400 ft). From the inner crater of Misti, near Arequipa, archaeologists excavated six Inca mummies, plus 47 statues and other artifacts.

On Llullaillaco, one of the highest active volcanoes on Earth, the Inca complex comprises several archaeological sites connected by a trail along the northeastern ridge of the mountain. Way stations, or tambos in Quechua, that presumably lodged the ceremony participants, were constructed at altitudes of 5,200 m (17,060 ft), 5,600 m (18,372 ft) and 6,300 m (20,669 ft). The ceremonial complex stood at an elevation of 6,739 m (22,110 ft). It contained the remains of nearly perfectly preserved frozen mummies of three children, with ages between about 4 and 13 years old, and over 100 splendid artifacts buried by Inca priests.

Small sculpture found with the Llullaillaco mummies (Wikimedia, 2009)

The Monumental Andes

The Incas and their ancestors faced environmental challenges ranging from volcanic eruptions and earthquakes to changing climates. Over thousands of years, they domesticated plants and animals, built large and impressive ceremonial complexes, developed sophisticated agricultural methods, and created exquisite textiles, ceramics and art objects in gold and silver. Ancient Andean beliefs shaped responses to their dynamic environment in diverse and unique ways.

In my recently published book, The Monumental Andes – Geology, Geography, and Ancient Cultures in the Peruvian Andes (University of Utah Press, 2024), I explore many of the interconnections between the ancient Andeans and their environment.

Roseanne Chambers

SOURCES

Ceruti, Maria Constanza, 2018. “Inca mountaintop shrines and glaciers in the high Andes.” Journal of Glacial Archaeology, 3.1: 59 – 78.

De Silva, S. L., and P. W. Francis, 1990. “Potentially Active Volcanoes of Peru: Observations Using Landsat Thematic Mapper and Space Shuttle Imagery.” Bulletin of Volcanology 52, no. 4: 286 – 301.

Ramos, Victor A., and A. Aleman, 2000. “Tectonic Evolution of the Andes.” In Tectonic Evolution of South America, edited by Umberto G. Cordani, Edison J. Milani, Antonio Thomaz Filho, and Diogenes de Almeida Campos, 453-480. 31st International Geological Congress, Rio de Janeiro, 2000.

Reinhard, Johan, and Constanza Ceruti, 2005. “Sacred Mountains, Ceremonial Sites, and Human Sacrifice among the Incas.” Archaeoastronomy 19: 1 – 43.

Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program. https://volcano.si.edu/volcanolist_countries.cfm?country=Peru).

Socha, Dagmara M., Johan Reinhard, and Ruddy Chávez Perea, 2021. “Inca Human Sacrifices on Misti Volcano (Peru).” Latin American Antiquity 32, no. 1: 138 – 153.

Stern, Charles R., 2004. “Active Andean Volcanism: Its Geologic and Tectonic Setting,” Revista Geológica de Chile 31, no. 2: 161 – 206.

Vazquez de Espinosa, A. 1990 [1629?]. Compendio y descripción de las Indias Occidentales. Colección Crónicas de América. Historia 16, Madrid: Atlas, as cited by Ceruti, 2018, p. 68.

Photo credits

Llullaillaco volcano (elev 6,739 m/22,110 ft); the last explosive eruption of the volcano occurred in 1877, by ISS Expedition 22 crew, 2010. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Llullaillaco_Volcano_in_Salta_province,_Argentina.jpg

Misti volcano above Arequipa, Peru, by Cristian123gme, 2020. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volc%C3%A1n_Misti_sobre_Arequipa.jpg

Shrines on the secondary summit of Llullaillaco, border of Argentina and Chile, by Christian Vitri, 2012. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chozas_dobles.jpg

Mummy of a young woman discovered on Llullaillaco, by grooverpedro, 2012 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Llullaillaco_mummies_in_Salta_city,_Argentina.jpg

Small sculpture found with the Llullaillaco mummies, by jimmyharris, 2009. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ajuar_02.jpg

From All of Us at Volcanocafe to All of You: Happy Christmas and a Volcanicious 2026!

The traditional Christmas optical illusions!

How many circles can you see on the image below?

Circles

Can you find the parallel lines in the image below?

Lines

How many zig-zags are there in the image below?

Curves

And a A Christmas volcano quiz! (Note: this will take you to an external site)

Play the quiz

And if a quiz is not your thing, how about a spot the errors? Below is a map of the UK and it counties generated by chatGPT Can you find the mistakes?

Chatgpt-generated map of the uK

Chatgpt was asked to try again. Here is its next try. Again, can you spot the remaining errors?

Improved Chatgpt-generated map

(Courtesy of the internet)

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59 thoughts on “Andean Volcanoes and Inca Shrines”

  1. The volcanoes of the Andes give as well as taking away. Nearly half of the world’s copper comes from the Andes, especially in Peru and Chile. And I suspect the great empires of South America owed a lot to the fertile soil that volcanoes give rise to. Likewise Mexico and other places like Italy and Greece.

    I worked with some guys who contributed to the Andean copper mines. The mines were above 4,000 m altitude. Each bedroom in the accommodation block had an oxygen cylinder next to the bed…

  2. Can the quiz page be trusted? Got 9/10, said it would put me on the highscore list, but that unfortunately I was not logged in, then showed a page where I was supposed to enter my full Facebook credentials. The thing is, I am logged in to Facebook on my device. This looked a lot like a phishing attempt to me.

    • It appears to be ok, at least it is never flagged as suspicious and has been around for a long time. I do not log in to such sites and don’t do facebook anyway. So – you got one wrong! Improvement may be needed.

  3. A lovely Christmas article.
    It is honestly astonishing the lengths the Incans went to in establishing these sacrifical sites. Not to mention their sprawling cities and temples that are still being discovered by LIDAR. They must have been incredibly fit and strong to build such an empire in a relatively short space of time.

    • For people who trust VC more than they do external sites, two more puzzles have been added.

  4. If you like the post, I can recommend the book! I found it a good and very interesting read.

  5. Etna finally did the Christmas eruption (visible in the “volcanoes and volcanism” group in Facebook) with some mild Strombolian explosions yesterday and today, after Kilauea did its eruption on Christmas Eve (Philippine time).

    • There was a very short paroxysm today from the Northeast Crater, apparently.

  6. Interesting intersection between volcanism and ancient cultures. Thanks, Roseanne!

  8. Really appreciate this historical-geological christmas gift. Thank you, Roseanne

    • An annoying tease of a volcano that won’t stop baiting our attention!
      I do wonder if there could be a flank eruption à la Novarupta from that rising area to the SW of the main mountain that’d drain out everything from both areas if it decides to let loose and try for the biggest one you think it’s capable of doing.

    • interesting that somebody seems to be intersted in the mt. Jefferson area on that Insar site

  10. Human sacrifices like the Inka mummy were a brutal part of human religious history!
    I’ve looked for the history, how long this tradition was used. The Great Civilizations like Egypt, Mesopotam, Greece and Rome had human sacrifices ususally during the early stages of their history, but later changed them towards f.e. animal sacrifices. Early Judaism also ended this tradition.

    However, in wartimes the idea of martyrs still lives on. There “usual humans” give their lives to the honor of a nation, a great idea or a great leader/tyrant.

  11. Thanks for the great photo of Misti! It’s now my desktop background image.
    Are there many photos and illustrations in the book? Could I see the table of contents? (Amazon doesn’t show it anymore for the most of the books, too bad!)

    • There are plenty of pictures in the book but they tend to be informative rather than pretty mountain shots – although there are some of those as well.

      • Thanks, I might order this book! It’s boring here now as the days are less than five hours long.

  13. Öræfajökull is having a bit of a swarm. Something to keep an eye on maybe.

    • It can go back to sleep. For another thousand years or more preferably.
      https://vafri.is/quake/
      All the quakes are around the top left corner or the caldera, or where the glacier begins, according to this.

      • Öræfajökull had two eruptions in last millenium: 1362 during the beginning of Little Ice Age and 1727. Between them were 350 years. If this rythm continues, we can expect an eruption in the end of 21st century. Personally I’d rather guess that we have to wait for more than 350 years than less.
        Maybe the swarm is an extremely early precursory sign for the next eruption.

        I’d rather bet that we get explosive eruptions of Hekla, Katla and Grimsvötn during our lifetimes than Öræfajökull.

        • I hope you are right and it is hundreds of years away.
          Oraefajokull contains 70%+ silica in it’s previous eruptions and likely has a decent-sized shallow rhyolite chamber. Given it’s age and propensity to erupt explosively the next eruption will not be small. VEI4 minimum.

          • Yes, it’s probably the most dangerous explosive volcano of Iceland. It has potentially the greatest impact on the northeastern Atlantic region and Europe, can send ash clouds to the Swedish lakes.

            Öraefajökull / Øræfajøkull (with danish/norwegian letters) has a largely unkown eruption history before 1362. We don’t know when and how this volcano usually erupted. The long break between 1362 and 1727 means that we’ve observed only a small part of its history. It is too short to know its actual usual behaviour. If the current break since 1727 lasts more than 350 years, the next eruption will happen after 2077.

            However, there are other volcanoes in Iceland which can do great silic explosive eruptions like Öraefajökull, but with lower frequency. An example for the more infrequent explosive volcanoes on Iceland is Kerlingarfjöll. It is part of Hofsjökull which during Holocene only did lava eruptions (comparable to Fagradalsfjall’s eruptions), but Kerlingarfjöll is the bad Rhyolite sibling. A dangerous aspect of this is that there might be volcanoes that appear like extinct ones, but can erupt again explosively.

          • Here I’ve found Carl’s post: https://www.volcanocafe.org/oraefajokull-a-challenge-for-volcanology/
            In his conclusion he wrote:
            “The second problem is the lack of knowledge and historical records of how the volcano behave prior to an eruption. The small few things we do know indicates that the current behaviour is how the volcano behaves prior to an eruption, but that there can be decades long waiting time from reactivation to the final eruption.”

  15. Chaiten is part of the southern Volcanic Zone of Chile. Is the Southern Volcanic Zone the best source of great eruptions in South America? Hudson did a Plinian eruption 1991, the year of Pinatubo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Volcano#H3_eruption:_1991_AD
    2015 Calbucco (SVZ) did a VEI4, 2011 Cordon Caulle did a VEI5 (stronger than Grimsvötn). So within 25 years the SVZ did three Plinian eruptions. Since 1990 the SVZ did all in all four Plinians. In the same period the Central Volcanic Zone only did one with Lascar 1993.

  16. Kilauea’s southern summit region remains more inflated than the northern region. In the south deflation during E39 was only ~50% of the northern summit region. It seems that the next episode is going to be a “southern episode” again like E38 with a more energetic behaviour:

    ?fileTS=1767105338

    • Nice thats how komatites looked like when they erupted! they where just as fluid only being just white hot in direct daylight!

  18. Not much happening in Iceland volcano-wise so RÚV has an article today on not much happening. I suspect they need filler for the Christmas-New Year news hole.

    “Everyone should remain on alert” (RÚV, 30 Dec)

    All indications suggest that an eruption could occur on the Reykjanes Peninsula at short notice, although it is also possible that the current eruptive sequence has come to an end, says geophysicist Freysteinn Sigmundsson.

    Well that seems to cover the entire spectrum of possibility. Prediction is hard, especially about the future.

    Other volcanoes also showing signs of readiness

    Freysteinn assesses that the likelihood of an eruption in the coming year is greater than not. Such an eruption could occur on the Reykjanes Peninsula or at one of several other volcanoes where pressure has increased in recent months. These include Bárðarbunga, Askja, Hekla and Katla.

    For all the advances in volcanology it still is an inexact science when it comes to working out when a volcano is going to erupt. Getting there though.

  19. My two highlights of 2025: the fountains of Kilauea (that would make a good title for a book) and the out-of-the-blue eruption of Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia (never trust a dead volcano). What was yours?

    And how are you doing on the Christmas puzzles?

    • Oh the Kamchatka M8.8 EQ & tsunami without a doubt… that was a *long* response, I think some of the less experienced analysts were surprised how long it went on, how the tsunami sloshed around the entire Pacific. I was leading the team when the biggest arrivals came in the next day – reflected waves from the coast of the Americas were bigger than the direct arrivals!

      • Wow. Was that because of the orientation of the Kamchatka fault line?

        • Not really… any big tsunamigenic event will behave similarly.

          • Even for the reflected wave being stronger than the direct one?

          • Yep, that’s been seen before. Plus you can get weird stuff happening where direct and indirect arrivals show up at the same time and interfere constructively or destructively in different places! Predicting the precise impact of distant-source tsunami is tricky!

          • The South American coast is very steep, so I can see that it could reflect tsunami waves quite effectively. Interference can be a problem to model. Do you have a Pacific basin model for this? Or is it too dependent on local conditions in New Zealand?

    • I would probably include the Santorini/Kolumbo seismic crisis as that was very interesting.

      Also the 40 mile long rifting event near Fantale/Dofen which deflated the Fentale caldera somewhat.

      Lewotobi-Laki-Laki had some sizeable explosions and a longish lava flow.

      Krashenninikov erupting after the M8.8 too.

      Earth is always busy!

        • Svartsengi/Sundhnukar (maybe it’s last) – be interesting to see where or if it erupts, or whether it fills the crust again.

          I think Teide could erupt next year, and maybe Grimsvotn too.

          • Teide would attract a lot of attention! A (non-destructive) eruption there would be quite something.

        • I’m looking at a fair bit of shaking just south of Reykjavik the last 24 hours.
          As Gilfli said in his latest YouTube video, Grindavik may be going quiet, but the peninsula may see some more undesirable activity ramping up. I doubt we are finished there.

    • My geological highlight of 2025 is probably the Myanmar earthquake purely because of this video:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ubC4bcgRM

      Volcanic highlight? Hayli Gubbi

      And as far as what I hope erupts in 2026? Much like it seems Tallis does, I yearn and pine for a VEI 6-7 from wherever it may happen.

  20. Kilauea has got to be the volcano highlight of 2025, doing 37 fountains some among its biggest in observed history. Tbh anyone who finds that boring has their priorities in the wrong place lol

    • the year would have been very boring without kilauea, i fear the times when i have to wait years for any basaltic eruptions again

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