Dominic Sandbrook

First of all, the Spanish, of course, had promised him he would not be burned.

Now, they don't burn him to ashes.

They grill him.

They give him a grilling.

And then they leave his grilled body in the square overnight, quote, for everyone to learn of his death.

It's basically a message.

And that grilling, I think, is a gesture.

You know, you and I talked about this before we started recording.

I think this is a gesture of contempt for him, probably by the Almagristas.

And there are kind of archaeologists who go on a- Indiana Jones type, yes, exactly.

Yeah, I mean, it's perfectly possible.

There is not, I think, straight away, but I think in subsequent decades, there starts to be this kind of cult of Atahualpa and a belief that maybe he might come back from the dead.

Pedro Pizarro records a very weird scene.

Basically, two of Atahualpa's sisters got into Pizarro's apartment.

The really interesting thing, though, is the reaction of the Spanish themselves.

Remember I said that they'd sent off Hernando de Soto to look for this northern army?

Soto gets back and he says...

There's no northern army.

I mean, it's been made up.

There's no Inca troops advancing on the town.