The Inca Empire flourished from the mid‑1430s until its fall in 1572 at the hands of Francisco Pizarro. Spanning most of modern‑day Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and parts of southern Colombia, life in this civilization was anything but ordinary—especially for children who somehow survived the staggering 25 % mortality rate before turning five. Below are ten truly bizarre aspects of an Inca youngster’s upbringing.

10 Crazy Ways Kids Lived in the Inca Empire

10 The Ceremony That Killed Children

Indeed, the Incas performed child sacrifices, a practice that defined how some youngsters met their end rather than how they lived. The ritual, known as capacocha, was reserved for momentous occasions such as the death of a ruler or a major military triumph. Paradoxically, being selected for this rite was considered an honor for the child’s family, as the offering was carried to the highest Peruvian peaks. These sacrifices were also made to appease deities in hopes of averting droughts, epidemics, and other calamities.

Prior to the ascent, the chosen youngsters were escorted to Cuzco, the empire’s capital, where a massive communal feast was held. After the celebration, the children were taken up the mountain for the final offering. While the ceremony did not discriminate by gender, archaeological discoveries have revealed that most of the recovered mummies are female.

During the journey, each child was given a mixture of alcohol and poison, inducing vomiting and a slow, painful death that could extend over weeks or even months of travel. In some cases, extreme dehydration caused the child to freeze to death before the poison took effect; other instances involved suffocation or a fatal blow to the head.

9 The Incas Were Ageists

The quipu—those knot‑filled cords you may have seen in pictures—served as the Inca’s data‑keeping system. Although scholars still struggle to decode its exact meaning, it does reveal a stark age hierarchy. Roughly twice a year, officials conducted a census, slotting every individual into one of ten distinct classes based on age.

Adults aged 25‑50 were deemed the most valuable, occupying the highest tier of the empire’s economy. They were counted first and afforded the greatest respect. Next in line were those aged 60‑70, followed by youths of 18‑20, children of 10‑17, then the 5‑9 age group, toddlers, and finally infants. This ordering underscores how little importance was placed on the youngest members of society.

Such a system dovetailed with the grim reality that the Incas also practiced child sacrifice. Historical accounts suggest that elders often beat children harshly until they surpassed nine years old, presumably to instill discipline deemed necessary for survival in this harsh environment.

8 Learning Advanced Skills As A Little Kid

Even before reaching double‑digits, Inca children—especially girls—were already mastering sophisticated crafts. By the age of five, many girls could spin yarn from llama and alpaca fleece, a skill captured in Spanish sketches of the period. They also learned the art of brewing chicha, a traditional fermented beverage.

While they were taught these valuable abilities, consumption of alcohol, sugary, or fatty foods was strictly forbidden for youngsters; a healthy physique was essential for future marital prospects. Teenage boys tended to herd llamas, whereas younger boys practiced trapping birds and raising guinea pigs, a staple protein source.

Girls were expected to be obedient and were kept away from men until arranged marriages were organized. Early Spanish observers noted that these girls often cut their hair short and went barefoot, appearing far from the European ideals of femininity. Their entire upbringing centered on preparing for marriage, household management, and family care.

7 Sick Kids Had To Sit In Pee

When a child fell ill, Inca healers turned to unconventional remedies. One belief held that a preserved umbilical cord could absorb malevolent forces; the ailing child would suck on this cord, thought to draw out the evil. The exact method of preserving the cord remains unclear, but it was likely kept chilled in mountain streams, much like Egyptian mummification practices.

Feverish children faced an even stranger cure: immersion in a massive tub filled entirely with the family’s urine. Contemporary accounts claim that this bizarre bath was believed to draw out the fever and restore health, a practice that would horrify modern sensibilities.

6 The Babies And Toddlers Were Treated More Like Things

Spanish missionaries recorded a chilling childcare routine: mothers would regularly bathe newborns in icy mountain streams for days on end, fearing that excessive affection would make infants overly clingy. This cold‑water regimen was thought to toughen the babies and keep them from becoming demanding.

Infants didn’t receive a name or formal family status until they turned two, a delay likely due to the alarmingly high infant mortality rate of 15th‑century Peru. Even after two years, the child’s first haircut ceremony—called rutuchicoy—was a public event where relatives gathered to witness the hair being trimmed for the first time.

During those early years, mothers fashioned a simple sling that draped over their backs, allowing the baby to ride along while the mother gathered herbs or performed other chores. This practical arrangement kept the child close yet minimized direct contact.

5 Schooling Was Surprisingly Not Sexist (Sort Of)

Around the ages of eight or nine, Inca youngsters left their homes to attend specialized schools. Although curricula differed between genders, both boys and girls received comparable levels of instruction.

Boys were taught Quechua, the empire’s lingua franca, and received training in religious rites and history. Girls, meanwhile, mastered brewing chicha, cooking, and religious customs—skills deemed essential for daily life.

Only the most attractive girls were chosen for the elite aqllakuna houses, where they could become priestesses or high‑status wives. The Sapa Inca, the supreme ruler, famously maintained a harem of numerous wives. Regardless of status, boys were prepared for roles as warriors, hunters, or farmers, though attendance at these schools was a privilege reserved for wealthier families.

4 Changing Clothes Was Important If You Were A Kid

At roughly fourteen, boys shed their humble garments for a ceremonial loincloth, signaling their transition into manhood. This shift was tied to the fact that teens were expected to marry during their teenage years.

Simultaneously, young men began inserting large ear plugs, gradually enlarging them over the years to achieve the impressive stretched earlobes that signified status. They also started carrying small pouches—akin to modern‑day purses—filled with coca leaves, which they chewed for luck and stamina.

Girls, by contrast, received fewer accessories; they wore longer dresses while boys donned tunics. A notable fact: the Sapa Inca would wear a brand‑new outfit only once before it was burned, whereas other nobles kept multiple garments for repeated use, reflecting the empire’s mastery of textile production.

3 Kids Wouldn’t Have Normal‑Shaped Skulls

From infancy, Inca parents bound their children’s heads to reshape them into elongated, cone‑like forms. Because a baby’s skull is pliable, this practice could easily produce the desired silhouette.

The motivation behind this cranial deformation was spiritual: a higher head was thought to elevate the mind and bring the wearer closer to the gods. Similar customs persisted among the Maya and other ancient peoples.

Archaeologists have also uncovered perforations in several Inca skulls, suggesting that deliberate holes were drilled to relieve swelling after violent club fights. This evidence points to a cultural acceptance of head injuries and their management.

2 Kids Were Probably Introduced To Sex And Marriage Too Young

Pottery and statues depicting sexual positions reveal that the Incas embraced a broad spectrum of sexual activity. It was customary for youths to engage in sexual relations before formal marriage, and many had multiple lovers prior to settling down. Homosexual encounters were also documented on ceramic artwork.

Despite this apparent openness, chosen women—known as aqllakuna—were expected to remain chaste until marriage. Given that girls typically wed between twelve and fourteen, it is likely that most experienced sexual activity well before their official unions.

The Inca social structure recognized three gender categories: straight men, straight women, and a third group encompassing transgender and homosexual individuals, called Tinkuy. This inclusive framework allowed young homosexual children to exist without concealment.

1 Marriage Was More Of A Business Trial

While men typically married in their late teens to mid‑twenties, women were often wed as early as twelve to fifteen. These unions functioned more as contractual agreements between families than romantic ceremonies, though a feast usually marked the occasion.

Each year, village leaders assembled all eligible youths and paired them off in arranged marriages. If two suitors vied for the same girl, the families presented arguments to the leader, who made the final decision.

Lower‑status men could only take one wife, but the marriage included a trial period of several years. Should the bride be dissatisfied, she could return to her natal family; likewise, a husband could send his wife back if unhappy. Typically, the bride moved into a home built by her husband’s family.

These arrangements underscore how marriage in the Inca world was a strategic, economic partnership rather than a purely personal choice.

When you pause to think about the 10 everyday things you reach for without a second thought, you might be surprised to learn that many of them were first imagined on a battlefield. From the humble roll of sticky tape to the autonomous vacuum that sweeps your kitchen floor, military needs have sparked inventions that later slipped into civilian life, reshaping how we live, eat, and even navigate the world.

10 Everyday Things: A Quick Overview

Below is a countdown of ten commonplace items that owe their existence to the pressure of war, each with a short story that proves innovation often springs from conflict.

10 Duct Tape

Every toolbox, broken car window, and makeshift first‑aid kit would feel incomplete without duct tape, and the history of this versatile adhesive begins with an unlikely hero: a factory worker named Vesta Stout. She originally devised the sticky, waterproof strip to seal ammunition boxes, and the military quickly recognized its potential for quick repairs on the front lines.

Stout’s path to fame wasn’t smooth. After receiving little interest from her superiors, she bypassed the chain of command and penned a direct letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Within weeks, Johnson & Johnson received the green light to mass‑produce the tape for military purposes, turning her modest invention into a wartime staple.

Since its debut in 1942, duct tape has become the go‑to solution for rapid fixes, improvised bandages, and even, for a fleeting moment in the early 2000s, shiny wallets sold by eighth‑graders to each other. Its staying power proves that a simple, robust idea can endure for decades.

9 Microwave Oven

Picture a college student slurping a cup‑of‑noodles in three minutes, a writer reheating coffee for the fourth time in an hour, or a kid turning old CDs into a laser light show. All of these modern conveniences hinge on the microwave, a device whose roots lie deep within wartime radar research.

In 1940, as Nazi aircraft rattled Britain’s skies, a team of British physicists arrived in the United States with top‑secret radar components, notably the cavity magnetron. This breakthrough dramatically boosted radar capabilities during World War II. Six years later, American engineer Percy Spencer filed a patent using the same magnetron to heat food, an idea sparked when a peanut bar melted in his pocket while he was near active radar equipment.

By 1955, the first commercial microwaves hit the market with price tags around $1,200 (roughly $12,000 today). Gradually, the appliance became affordable, and it soon found a permanent home in even the most modest motel rooms, proving that a piece of WWII tech could heat more than just enemy aircraft.

8 Super Glue

Super glue’s reputation for bonding almost anything with lightning speed is well deserved, but its origins are far from the kitchen counter. The adhesive was born out of a failed attempt to improve weapon sights during the final months of World War II.

In 1945, a group of scientists—including Dr. Harry Coover—experimented with cyanoacrylates to create clear gun sights. The project fizzled, but six years later Coover revisited the chemicals, recognizing their astonishing adhesive properties. By 1958, he introduced “Super Glue” to the consumer market, while the military continued to find niche uses, such as sealing aircraft canopies and even closing flesh wounds.

From a missed opportunity to help soldiers aim more accurately, super glue evolved into a household staple, embodying the adage that sometimes a failure can stick around forever—in the best possible way.

7 Global Positioning System

Imagine trying to navigate a desert without a smartphone or a satellite map. The Global Positioning System, or GPS, started as a covert Cold War tool designed to track submarines, but it quickly proved its worth on the open battlefield.

The program, known as NAVSTAR, launched its first satellite in 1978, with the final piece of the constellation placed in orbit by 1993. Its true test came during the 1991 Gulf War, when only 19 of the planned 24 satellites were operational. Even with this incomplete network, Coalition forces used GPS to outmaneuver Iraqi units across a featureless desert, giving them a decisive edge.

Today, GPS is woven into the fabric of daily life—embedded in smartphones, ridesharing apps, location‑based marketing, and on‑demand food delivery. The military’s original navigation system now guides billions of civilians worldwide, proving that a war‑born technology can become a global compass.

6 The Internet

The internet’s impact on modern society is staggering: it connects us, informs us, entertains us, and sometimes overwhelms us. Yet its humble beginnings were far less glamorous—a simple idea to link computers for scientific data sharing.

In the 1960s, the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) received a proposal from computer visionary J.C.R. Licklider to create a globally connected network. This vision sparked the development of ARPANET, which later evolved into the modern internet we know today. By 1985, the first domain name was registered, opening the doors for commercial and private use.

Because the internet originated as a military‑funded research project, its spread has been nothing short of revolutionary. From social media to streaming, from online education to remote work, the web’s omnipresence makes losing connectivity feel like a personal crisis for today’s Homo sapiens.

5 Canned Food

The pantry staple of canned goods—whether corn, tuna, or pork‑loin—owes its existence to a simple but vital military requirement: feeding soldiers on the move. The famous saying “an army marches on its stomach” highlights the necessity of reliable rations.

In the early 19th century, the French army suffered more casualties from spoiled food than from combat. Seeking a solution, Nicolas Appert pursued a government prize in 1806 to develop a method for long‑term food preservation. His successful technique earned him the title “father of canning,” and military rations were transformed forever.

Soon after, canned foods entered civilian markets, providing a sanitary, long‑lasting way to store food. Today, items like Vienna sausages, Spam, and corned beef hash trace their lineage back to a wartime push to keep troops fed, illustrating how a battlefield necessity can nourish entire populations.

4 Bagged Salad

Fresh, pre‑washed lettuce in a sealed bag may seem like a modern convenience, but its roots are tangled with wartime innovation. During World II, German engineer Karl Busch invented the first vacuum‑sealing machine to preserve food for military families and soldiers.

The vacuum technology, refined throughout the 1950s, eliminated the need for massive ice shipments to keep vegetables fresh. By removing air, it dramatically slowed spoilage, allowing leafy greens to travel long distances without wilting. In 1963, Busch’s industrial‑scale redesign paved the way for commercial use, and by 1984 the first home‑grade vacuum sealer hit the market.

Without this vacuum breakthrough, the cheap, ready‑to‑eat salads we grab at fast‑food joints would be far more expensive, and the simple pleasure of tossing together a homemade Caesar salad at home might never have become a reality.

3 Synthetic Rubber

Synthetic rubber is everywhere—from car tires to skateboards, from dog toys to electronic casings. Its widespread presence stems from a wartime scramble for a vital material after natural rubber supplies were cut off.

When Japan seized control of the Pacific in the early 1940s, the United States lost access to most of the world’s natural rubber. President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded by convening a committee in 1942 to develop a synthetic alternative. By April of that year, Firestone rolled out the first bale of synthetic rubber, ensuring the military had the material needed for tires, seals, and countless other applications.

The rapid creation of synthetic rubber not only satisfied wartime demand but also unlocked a cascade of civilian uses. Today, it powers everything from automobile tires to athletic shoes, proving that a crisis‑driven invention can become a cornerstone of modern industry.

2 Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) now powers immersive games, training simulations, and even therapeutic programs, but its earliest incarnation was a military training tool developed in the 1980s.

The technology began with sophisticated flight simulators, gradually expanding to full‑scale combat environments, vehicle trainers, and team‑building exercises for soldiers. While these systems never replace real‑world training, they provide a safe, repeatable platform for honing skills—much like a gamer’s VR shooter does not automatically qualify them to perform surgery.

Although modern VR experiences let users explore alien worlds or walk across virtual skyscraper beams, the underlying hardware and software trace back to military research aimed at preparing troops for real‑life scenarios.

1 Roomba

While the world imagines Skynet rising, the humble Roomba quietly sweeps away crumbs, pet hair, and the occasional penny, all thanks to technology originally forged for battlefield purposes.

iRobot co‑founder Colin Angle explains that the autonomous navigation algorithms enabling Roombas to dodge furniture derive from programming used in military robotic minesweepers. Those same breakthroughs allow soldiers to clear dangerous minefields safely, demonstrating a direct line from war‑zone robotics to household cleaning.

Today, the Roomba’s ability to patrol kitchen floors mirrors its militarized cousin’s mission to neutralize explosive hazards. As autonomous tech continues to evolve, who knows which other household gadgets might share DNA with defense systems?