The ancient Incas made human sacrifices to appease the gods. And more often children became them. Many of the victims found were mummified, and their remains have survived to our times. Recently, at an altitude of more than 5000 m on 30 peaks of the Andes, more than 115 high-altitude ritual sites of the Incas have been excavated. But until recently, finding these mummies seemed almost impossible, since they were hidden very high in the mountains under a multi-meter layer of snow and ice. And only in 1995, scientists finally discovered a perfectly preserved ritual victim, mummified 500 years ago.
The Nevado Sabankaya volcano near the Peruvian village of Cabanaconde began erupting in 1995. The scorching ash flying in all directions covered even the top of the nearby Nevado Ampato volcano with a black layer. Together with the sun, he melted the icy peak, revealing to the human eye many ancient buildings and structures of the Incas, hidden under the thickness of ice and snow.
The remains of ancient Inca structures that first appeared on the surface after a 500-year hiatus attracted the interest of the chief researcher of the Mining Institute in West Virginia, Doctor of Anthropology Johan Reinhard.
Before embarking on this expedition, Reinhard and his partner Miguel Zarata prepared corn beer and, according to ancient custom, offered it to the spirits of the mountains, so that the ascent to a height of 6310 m would be successful and safe. “You have to ask permission from the mountain, you have to give it before you take it,” Miguel said.
Oddly enough, the ancient rite worked. They not only returned safe and sound from a difficult and dangerous expedition, but also discovered something that no one had ever been able to find before them - the perfectly preserved mummy of an Inca girl sacrificed to the gods more than 500 years ago.
Near the top of the volcano, scientists noticed several bright feathers sticking out of the ground. They turned out to be part of the headdress of a very beautiful and perfectly preserved ritual statuette of the Incas. And nearby, archaeologists have discovered several more similar ritual gizmos. They suggested that other objects from this ritual site could have rolled down into the volcano's crater.
To test this assumption, Reinhardt and Zarata descended to a depth of 65 m into the volcano's crater. It was there that luck awaited them.
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Ice maiden
Near one of the stones lay a large bundle, from a distance resembling a bag with a climber's equipment. Coming closer, they saw with horror that this was not a bundle, but a human body, wrapped in rags and somehow miraculously kept on a sheer wall. It turned out to be the mummified body of an Inca girl 12-14 years old. Her face was disfigured and her eyes were missing.
“When we turned the girl over and I saw her face, I thought:“Oh Lord, she’s all dry!” - says Dr. Reinhardt. “But even then I realized that we had something unique in our hands - a ritual sacrifice killed about 500 years ago by the Inca priests in order to appease the mountain spirits.”
The scientist was not mistaken: as it turned out later, this was the first well-preserved frozen body of the pre-Columbian era found in the Andes.
Realizing the importance of his discovery, being on the side of the mountain illuminated by the bright sun, Reinhard knew that even with a slight increase in temperature, the mummy would begin to thaw. Then irreversible processes will begin, which will cause inevitable damage to organic tissues. It was necessary, keeping the mummy in a frozen state, as soon as possible to deliver it to the Catholic University in the city of Arequipa, where there was the necessary equipment to preserve the mummified body in the desired state.
To begin with, they had to go down a very steep slope to a high-altitude camp located below at a distance of 500 m. But given their emaciated state, the difficult descent and the impending darkness, they did not dare to drag the mummy with them, but left it in place, safely hiding it between the stones. Only the next morning did the scientists return for her and the rest of the equipment. And together with the mummy and other found artifacts we went down to the camp.
Here, having weighed the mummy for the first time, they truly realized its value. The mummy weighed 80 pounds, which is certainly too much for a dried-up body without internal organs. The conclusion suggested itself: all the internal organs were in place, and the body remained practically unchanged for 500 years due to the low temperature.
At lower altitudes, the danger arose that the mummy would begin to melt. To avoid this, she was wrapped in a sleeping bag. Two days after the discovery of their find, scientists reached the village of Kabanakonde. Here they had to guard not only the mummy, but also other valuable items collected at the top of the volcano: they could easily be stolen. The archaeological site attracted a large number of thieves and robbers, so it was dangerous to get to Arequipa by night bus. But Reinhardt and Zarata understood perfectly well what could happen if they delayed even a little and the mummy began to thaw: a fungus would begin to develop, which would lead to the immediate decomposition of tissues. The mummy was delivered and placed in the freezer the next morning.
Dr. José Antonio Chavez of the Catholic University told anthropologists that thanks to their efforts, the mummy was delivered with little or no damage. In honor of the peak of Ampato, on which she was found, the mummy was named "Ampat Maiden", or "Ice Maiden". Quite simply - "Juanita". Soon Juanita was transferred to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where scientific research began immediately. Since Juanita was only a frozen body, and not a dried mummy without internal organs, it became possible to conduct biological research on the lungs, liver, and muscle tissue. This allowed them to learn more about the health and diet of the Incas. In addition, the X-ray scan revealed a large fissure in the skull just above the right eye. And the brain was slightly displaced to the side, probably due to extensive internal hemorrhage.
It became clear that a physically healthy 12-14 year old girl was killed by a very strong blow to the head. The instrument of the ritual murder was most likely a wooden club. Perhaps the victim was forced to take some kind of drugs so that she would not resist: most likely, before the murder, she already had a poor understanding of what was happening around.
From the book: "One Hundred Great Secrets of the Ancient World." Nikolai Nikolaevich Nepomniachtchi
