The National Geographic, November, 1999:

In its short life of only about a hundred years, the Inca Empire came to stretch 2,500 miles—roughly the distance from New York City and Los Angeles. By the Spanish conquest in 1532 the Inca, a small ethnic group based in Cuzco, Peru, ruled more than 12 million subjects, of 100 different cultures, speaking at least 20 languages. The Inca were not the brutal conquerors the Spaniards were. They used gifts as well as spears to demonstrate power to potential subjects. Inca textiles, for example, inspired awe among villagers. Once in charge, the Inca assimilated new peoples with remarkable effectiveness....

Child sacrifices were part of this approach. The Inca obtained children from throughout the empire and rewarded their families with positions or goods. Sacrifices were unifying events; children often were taken to Cuzco for celebrations before processions bore them on long journeys and up massive mountains to sacrifice sites.

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