A Groundbreaking New DNA Study May Have Finally Determined Where Inca Emperors Originated From

Peruvian scientists believe that they may have finally at long last discovered where the Incas originated from thanks to a major new study conducted on the DNA of descendants of great Inca emperors.

The pre-Hispanic Tahuantinsuyo empire that the Incas created, which includes the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu, can be counted as one of the largest that ever existed in the Americas, with emperors controlling their vast number of people from the capital of Cusco, as Phys.org report.

The Incas once had a thriving empire that was in existence for over 200 years and which only ended after the arrival of Spanish conquerors during the 16th century.

It is down to the huge amount of interest and enthusiasm that scientists Jose Sandoval and Ricardo Fujita have for the ancient Inca civilization that the two men decided to try and discover what the genetic makeup of the Incas might be. Fujita and Sandoval were also intent on discovering whether two legends on the origin of the Incas were correct.

The first of these legends suggested that the Incas originated from the Puno area of Peru near Lake Titicaca, while the second claimed that in actuality the Incas were really from Cusco close to Pacaritambo mountain.

To determine which, if any, of these legends were true, the two scientists obtained DNA samples from those who lived in both places, according to Fujita.

“After three years of tracking the genetic fingerprints of the descendants, we confirm that the two legends explaining the origin of the Inca civilization could be related. They were compared with our genealogical base of more than 3,000 people to reconstruct the genealogical tree of all individuals. We finally reduced this base to almost 200 people sharing genetic similarities close to the Inca nobility.”

Interestingly, it was determined that Inca emperors actually descended from both lines and that the two legends were both true, as Sandoval explained.

“The conclusion we came to is that the Tahuantinsuyo nobility is descended from two lines, one in the region of Lake Titicaca, the other around the mountain of Pacaritambo in Cusco. That confirms the legends.”

Ricardo Fujita has said that future research on the origin of the Incas will now be focused on extracting DNA from mummies “to form the most complete picture of the origin of the most important pre-Hispanic civilization.”