The 15-year-old Inca girl who was sacrificed 500 years ago is the best preserved mummy ever found. Her body was frozen during sleep and kept in a dry cold condition at more than 6000 meters above sea level, which resulted in her excellent preservation. In 1999, she was found near the top of the Llullaillaco volcano, in northwestern Argentina.
As the best-preserved mummy, she provides a rare glimpse into the Inca culture and their beliefs. The Incas believed that sacrificing virgins to the gods would bring good fortune to the empire. Unfortunately, this 15-year-old girl was one of those sacrifices. But thanks to her perfect preservation, we are able to learn more about the Inca culture and their beliefs.
In September 1995, anthropologist Johan Reinhard and his Peruvian colleagues announced the successful summit of Nevado Ampato in the Peruvian Andes.
The peak had been scaled in order to retrieve the mummified remains of a young Inca girl, who had been sacrificed some 500 years earlier.
The perfectly preserved mummy, which came to be known as “Mummy Juanita” or the “Inca Ice Maiden”, provided a rare glimpse into the burial practices of the ancient Inca civilization. upon discovery, it was determined that the girl had been frozen soon after death and had likely remained untouched for centuries. Her body was removed from the mountain and taken to a laboratory in Arequipa, Peru, where it is currently on display.
Mummy Juanita provides an important window into the religious beliefs and practices of the Inca people, offering insight into a culture that has long since disappeared.
If you’re interested in preserving your own body for centuries, freezing is the best way to go. By keeping your body in a dry cold condition, you can achieve excellent preservation, as this 15-year-old Inca girl has shown us.
The ancient Inca civilization believed that human sacrifice
The ancient Inca civilization believed that human sacrifice was essential for maintaining the balance of the natural world. As a result, they often sacrificed individuals to their gods, as an offering for continued good fortune. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Inca performed these sacrifices by removing the hearts of their victims and then gently placing their bodies on top of high mountains.
This practice likely continued until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, who put an end to the Inca Empire. Although human sacrifice may seem barbaric to modern sensibilities, it was an integral part of the beliefs and traditions of the Inca people.