Incan 'Ice Maiden' Mummy

This is an unbelievably well-preserved 500-year-old mummy of a teenage girl, who was found with 2 other children, at the top of a very high volcano in Argentina. She was found about 8 years ago but only went on public display this past week.

September 11, 2007 —The mummy of an ancient Inca girl sits literally frozen in sleep at a museum in Argentina.

The mummy, called La Doncella or The Maiden, is that of a teenage girl who died more than 500 years ago in a ritual sacrifice in the Andes Mountains.

The girl and two other children were left on a mountaintop to succumb to the cold as offerings to the gods, according to the archaeologists who found the mummified remains in Argentina in 1999.

National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Johan Reinhard, who co-led the expedition, described the discovery at the time as "the best preserved of any mummy I've seen." (National Geographic News is a division of the National Geographic Society.)

The High Country Archaeological Museum in Salta, Argentina, unveiled La Doncella, the oldest of the three victims, for its first public viewing on September 6.

The picture album at the National Geographic website has some amazing pictures!

Check out the braids in her hair!



Amazing!

Here is a page which has interactive information about DNA and also findings from the 'virtual autopsy' they did, via CT Scan, on the mummy.

Supposedly, she and the other 2 were sacrificial offerings, but not in the traditional sense. This is what the discoverer, Johan Reinhard, has to say about it:

The three Inca children were left to freeze to death as a sacrifice to the gods, anthropologist Johan Reinhard said.

"[They] weren't being sacrificed to feed the gods," Reinhard told National Geographic News in 2005. "They were being sacrificed to enter into the realm of the gods. It was considered a great honor.

"These children didn't die in the sense that we think: They went to live in a paradise with the gods. … It was a transition into a better life, one that these children were greatly honored [to have]."

Still...she still looks cold and I can't help but feel sorrowful for her and her companions. It seems a rather lonely way to die. Hopefully the Gods weren't late in picking them up for their new lives!

Here is another page on the Nat'l Geographic sight with an interactive section called 'Ice Treasures of the Inca.' Evidently the 1995 expedition turned up many archaeological treasures in the Andes.

Didn't Bill Clinton say She looked good for 5-6 hundred Years old and If She was around now He would date Her? I remember reading that about ten years ago. I think the two best preserved Mummies are Her and That 3,000 year old Chinese countess.

Yes I think he did.

Poor gal. I hope she eventually lives that down.
Not Hillary. I mean the ice maiden.

Chinese countess? The one that was buried in layer after layer of crypts?

[edit on 9/16/2007 by queenannie38]

Wonderful research, QueenAnnie... and thanks so much for putting it here!

There's a lot being rewritten in history in respect to the South American people. Mummies like this are helping provide a fuller picture of the people and their diets and technology. I don't think I'll get a chance to see her while she's on tour (would also love to see Lucy, who is touring) but I'd love to.

The girl died from a blow to the occipital region of the head causing a massive heamorrage...rapid and better than frezing to death i suppose..not a cold long death..

Originally posted by queenannie38
Yes I think he did.

Poor gal. I hope she eventually lives that down.

Not Hillary. I mean the ice maiden.

Chinese countess? The one that was buried in layer after layer of crypts?

[edit on 9/16/2007 by queenannie38]

Yep that one!

Originally posted by andy1972
The girl died from a blow to the occipital region of the head causing a massive hemorrhage...rapid and better than freezing to death i suppose..not a cold long death..

Yes. At first I didn't see that, and I was somewhat bothered by the idea; looking at the position she froze in made it quite real in my imagination.

Originally posted by Byrd
There's a lot being rewritten in history in respect to the South American people. Mummies like this are helping provide a fuller picture of the people and their diets and technology.

Yes, I have been avidly interested in those cultures, myself, lately. Much of what they are finding out is beyond amazing, to me! They were both innovative and hardy rather than primitive.

I am hoping one day to visit Machu Picchu.

are ther any pictures or articles on the chinese mummy i have never heard of that one.the only mummy i actually heard of was the bog man

A couple of different photo's of this girl. I'm not sure how old they are but these were just posted here last week. The close-up of her arms is incredible, the skin is almost perfect.

almost looks like shes about to jump up and go Booga!



those are some nce picts though I haven't seen any updated ones till the last post
thanks