It´s located in Salta province, Argentine Republic. It stands 6.739 meters above sea level, what becomes it in the highest mountain in Salta, one of the most important mountains in The Andes and in one of the highest volcanos in the world. It´s just 233m lower than the Aconcagua.

The peak´s name comes from Quechua. “Llullac” means lie and “Yacu”, water. So the traduction would be “lying water”.

Generally in mountains like this, we hope to find water slopes that rise up from the sides. But it doesn´t happen in Llullallaico. It is a mountain that doesn´t pour water as rivers, but it does in a lakes serie, ubicated between the 5500 and 5800 msnm. There are eight small lakes of little depth.

These roads raise their great symbolic expresion when they led to the high sanctuaries, such us the Llullallaico.
Incas built a network of paths and roads along The Andes. They go from the south of Colombia to Mendoza in our country and Santiago of Chile. All this system is connected with Cuzco, holy city, residence of  the Incas and the deities, center of the all system. This roads network of about 40.000 km is the strongest archaeological evidence of american prehistory.

The route generally used by climbers and archaeologists is the one that Incas used to go to the cusp of the sanctuary through a zigzag path that rises the east slope and goes to the volcano top.

Five centuries ago, Inca priests ascended this path with three children that were offered up to their chief god, the sun.
In the volcano top – the highest archaeologist site in the world- three frozen bodies were found. They belonged to victims of human sacrifices of the Incas.

They have been considered the best preserved pre-columbian mummies, keeping all their internal organs intact after 500 years of their death. Besides the three mummies, more than 80 objects were recovered. There were silver, gold and spondylus valve statuettes, feather headdresses and woven bags that contained coca leaf or food. They were part of the trousseau placed in tombs or have been buried as an offering.

One of the bodies, that belonged to a seven year old boy, was sitting on a robe. A 15 year old woman was wearing a feather headdress. In the third tomb, the body of a 6 year old girl was found damaged by a lightning strike.