# Yes - virgins were sacrified to volcanos.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [August 24, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829 "2016-08-24T16:56:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/1 "2016-08-24T16:56:44Z")
This is a short response in regard to SD’s response on the subject of human sacrifices by means of an active volcano, particularly of virgins.
“My query concerns the common conception of primitive cultures sacrificing virgins by throwing them into the maw of an active volcano. Many people seem to think this actually happened, but I can’t find even one reliable report of human sacrifice this way.”
> **[Have virgins ever been tossed into volcanoes to appease the gods?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344184/have-virgins-ever-been-tossed-into-volcanoes-to-appease-the-gods)**
I’m readdressing this response from SD on the grounds that they did not respond adequately. Furthermore, it seems Cecil’s response is contradictory:
“As with so many popular beliefs, the answer boils down to: (1) this story is mostly Hollywood BS, but (2) not 100 percent.”
followed later by,
"Virgins have been sacrificed on, if not in, volcanoes. I’ll go out on a limb and say this is 100 percent true. "
So what is it - mostly Hollywood BS, or 100% true?
Because that is a fine contradiction if I ever read one.
After looking around, it seems there is plenty of noteworthy sources that would insist young children and particularly females were sacrificed to volcanoes.
“In the days before the arrival of Columbus, the Masaya Volcano was worshiped by the local people as they viewed any activity of the volcano as signs of displeasure from their gods. They would then head up the volcano with sacrifices, which often included young maidens and small children, to try and please the gods.”
> **[Masaya Volcano Museum, Masaya | Nicaragua.com](https://www.nicaragua.com/attractions/museums/masaya-volcano/)**
>
> Delve into the explosive history, religious connections and beliefs, and fascinating facts about the volcanoes of the Masaya Volcano National Park in Masaya.
Another popular example is Mummy Juanita of Mt. Ampato.
> **[Mummy Juanita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita)**
>
> Momia Juanita (Spanish for "Mummy Juanita"), also known as the Lady of Ampato, is the well-preserved frozen body of a girl from the Inca Empire who was killed as a human sacrifice to the Inca gods sometime between 1440 and 1480, when she was approximately 12–15 years old. She was discovered on the dormant stratovolcano Mount Ampato (part of the Andes cordillera in southern Peru) in 1995 by anthropologist Johan Reinhard and his Peruvian climbing partner, Miguel Zárate. She is known as the Lady Ju...
Although there is nothing to indicate having been a virgin, its a well known example of a preserved female sacrifice to a volcanic site.
Honestly, this has to be the first time I was disappointed in the response from Straight Dope.
I’m also slightly embarrassed for the individual that asked this question.
Of course people have been sacrificed to volcanoes.
:smack:
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/2 "2016-08-24T17:13:08Z")
After titling your post " **Yes - virgins were sacrified to volcanos.** , you proceed to give links that seem to indicate that it is still unknown whether your statement is true.
:smack: right back atcha.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/3 "2016-08-24T17:26:35Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> After titling your post " **Yes - virgins were sacrified to volcanos.** , you proceed to give links that seem to indicate that it is still unknown whether your statement is true.
> :smack: right back atcha.
For arguments sake, lets just say all of the children found in the history of volcanic sacrifices were already de-virginized.
These ages of course range roughly anywhere from six years old and above, with an emphasis on female children.
Well, you’re right! I don’t have citation for conclusive proof - but then again, the worship of purity regarding ones sexuality (and lack of experience in) is a global phenomenon that has been documented in every corner of the world.
Regardless, I believe I’ve addressed the issue more appropriately then the original reply.
I also have yet to see a response on the contradictory statements.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/4 "2016-08-24T17:26:48Z")
As if people need more of an incentive to lose their virginity!
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/5 "2016-08-24T17:30:55Z")
It should also be noted that “virgin blood” is considered sacred by many cultures.
Hell, even Bathory was bathing in it - and this was before AIDS!
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/6 "2016-08-24T17:32:35Z")
And you expect us to simply take their word that they were virgins?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/7 "2016-08-24T17:34:23Z")
> [@wristwatch](#):
>
> For arguments sake, lets just say all of the children found in the history of volcanic sacrifices were already de-virginized.
For silly nitpickings sake, lets just say that when people usually refer to virgins being sacrificed they aren’t talking about virgin _children_.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/8 "2016-08-24T17:38:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> For silly nitpickings sake, lets just say that when people usually refer to virgins being sacrificed they aren’t talking about virgin _children_.
For Czarcasms stubborn sake, lets just say that _children having sex_ is not a restricted past time, and depending on region and timeline - yes, a child may very well be fair game to label a virgin.
Men were taking 10 year old wives not more then a few hundred years ago, and this was to ensure they were virgins.
Or, are 10 year olds not “child” enough for you?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/9 "2016-08-24T17:38:35Z")
> [@wristwatch](#):
>
> It should also be noted that “virgin blood” is considered sacred by many cultures.
>
> Hell, even Bathory was bathing in it - and this was before AIDS!
The tale of Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed bathing in the blood of virgins was first told long after her death, and is pretty unreliable.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/10 "2016-08-24T17:39:41Z")
Why the OP should feel embarrassment for the original questioner is a mystery to me. It seems like a perfectly reasonable question.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/11 "2016-08-24T17:40:55Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#):
>
> Why the OP should feel embarrassment for the original questioner is a mystery to me. It seems like a perfectly reasonable question.
Because they asked this question in 2013, not 1985.
10 minutes of Google will provide safe sources noting volcanic sacrifices.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/12 "2016-08-24T17:53:00Z")
So, in other words, Cecil was completely right? Why start a thread to just repeat what he already said?
In case it’s not clear, what he said was that humans were definitely sacrificed to volcano gods, but that the idea of performing the sacrifice by tossing them in was a Hollywood invention.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/13 "2016-08-24T17:55:19Z")
And it is still unknown as to whether their being virgins was ever a requirement.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/14 "2016-08-24T18:00:18Z")
I don’t see what the contradiction is. The question was: “have any virgins anywhere ever been tossed into a live volcano to appease an irate god?”.
Incan sacrificial mummies that have been found, such as the [children of Llullaillaco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco) or [Plomo mummy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plomo_Mummy), were not tossed into the volcano. The method of death for such sacrificial children, as part of the [_qhapaq hucha_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qhapaq_hucha) rite, was, according to Wikipedia, “strangulation, a blow to the head, suffocation, or being buried alive while unconscious”. They were also not tossed in the volcano _post mortem_, since the corpses survive to this day.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/15 "2016-08-24T18:04:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> So, in other words, Cecil was completely right? Why start a thread to just repeat what he already said?
I’m sure if you can speak English so well, you can also do a better job at reading it.
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> In case it’s not clear, what he said was that humans were definitely sacrificed to volcano gods, but that the idea of performing the sacrifice by tossing them in was a Hollywood invention.
Actually, thats just what you picked up from your own interpretation.
There is nothing in that response to sound that he was implying just that.
Please show me what I am missing. Feel free to quote.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/16 "2016-08-24T18:06:51Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#):
>
> I don’t see what the contradiction is. The question was: “have any virgins anywhere ever been tossed into a live volcano to appease an irate god?”.
>
> Incan sacrificial mummies that have been found, such as the [children of Llullaillaco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco) or [Plomo mummy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plomo_Mummy), were not tossed into the volcano. The method of death for such sacrificial children, as part of the [_qhapaq hucha_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qhapaq_hucha) rite, was, according to Wikipedia, “strangulation, a blow to the head, suffocation, or being buried alive while unconscious”. They were also not tossed in the volcano _post mortem_, since the corpses survive to this day.
The contradiction was not regarding the question at hand - please read my first post again.
You’re citing irrelevant cases that do not pertain to volcanic sacrifices.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/17 "2016-08-24T18:10:31Z")
> [@wristwatch](#):
>
> The contradiction was not regarding the question at hand - please read my first post again.
>
> You’re citing irrelevant cases that does not pertain to volcanic sacrifices.
You cited a tall tale about Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, and something vague about virgin blood being sacred in “many cultures”, and neither of those have anything to do with virgin sacrifices to volcanoes.
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### Author:  [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/18 "2016-08-24T18:17:21Z")
> [@wristwatch](#):
>
> You’re citing irrelevant cases that do not pertain to volcanic sacrifices.
Llullaillaco is a potentially active stratovolcano, with reports of eruptions in 1854, 1868, and 1877, although it’s true that _qhapaq hucha_ sacrifices were also made at religiously significant high-elevation locations that were non-volcanic.
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### Author:  [@wristwatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wristwatch)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/19 "2016-08-24T18:19:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> You cited a tall tale about Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, and something vague about virgin blood being sacred in “many cultures”, and neither of those have anything to do with virgin sacrifices to volcanoes.
Virginity is considered sacred by many groups from all over Earth.
If I spent an hour or two I could compile a fine list of its documentation from all over, but really - I do not want to do that.
Bathory was a tongue-in-cheek defense, if you could not tell.
However, on a serious note, why would, of all things, _virgins blood_… become the root of that tale, rather then just regular blood?
Because, whether it is true or not - many outdated cultures placed great sacred meaning to virginity, as it remains an undeniable form of purity/being untouched.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yes-virgins-were-sacrified-to-volcanos/763829/20 "2016-08-24T18:23:19Z")
> [@wristwatch](#):
>
> Virginity is considered sacred by many groups from all over Earth.
> If I spent an hour or two I could compile a fine list of its documentation from all over, but really - I do not want to do that.
>
> Bathory was a tongue-in-cheek defense, if you could not tell.
> However, on a serious note, why would, of all things, _virgins blood_… become the root of that tale, rather then just regular blood?
>
> Because, whether it is true or not - many outdated cultures placed great sacred meaning to virginity, as it remains an undeniable form of purity/being untouched.
That’s nice. Now can you provide any cites that back up the statement of fact you made at the beginning of this thread…something more than “Well, women and children were sacrificed, and there’s a good chance _some_ of them were virgins, right?”
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