The Llullaillaco Maiden

[Sombeech]

44708

Photo of the

[accadacca]

Serious? WTF? :ne_nau:

[BruteForce]

The clothes sure seemed very well preserved. Were they too fed a special diet and left to die?

[BruteForce]

My comment updated to add:
Analysing the clothes and ornamentation was part of the study. The children were wearing moccasins and carrying spare sandals. The Maiden wore typical Inca clothing including a sleeveless dress and a woolen shawl. She carried a feather headdress showing she was a chosen woman of the Incas destined to be a “virgin of the sun.” She was wearing ornaments on her shoulder. The boy was wearing a typical male poncho. He had feathers on his forehead and a bracelet. The younger girl was hit by lightening after she was buried because she had a metal plaque on her forehead that attracted the lightening. In spite of that the organs in her body is still in a great state. Interestingly different ethnic origins can be inferred from the shape of the heads, which some groups intentionally modelled during infancy. The younger girl has a conical shaped head modified to resemble a mountain. We suspect they all died from exposure to the cold. We know from analysis they were given coca leaves during the last year of their lives and probably on the trek. Coca leaves played a prominent role in Andean/Inca rituals.

The photo that Beech posted seems a bit doctored as the actual science photos are more dingy and she's not as well preserved.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WqKPQQlCODs/TU1aw0QGalI/AAAAAAAAAR4/xDW2MHMjoJo/s1600/Uno_de_los_Ni_os_de_Llullaillaco_.jpg

[Scott P]

The clothes sure seemed very well preserved.

It's because those mountains are in the middle of the driest desert in the world and it's almost always below freezing. The clothes and bodies simply freeze and dry out (no insects, animals, bacteria, etc. to decompose) and are preserved that way.

Anyway, some sacrifices were left to freeze to death and some were hit in the head. Except for infants, the sacrifices almost surely went willingly. It is worth mentioning that Llullaillaco is 22,000+ feet high and they would have had to walk there on their own. They were however drugged heavily while they climbed and before death.

Many such mountains in that part of the Andes have (or had) mummies on them. I've seen several of the mummies, including the most famous one (Juanita found on Ampato). My son liked to see them and was curious why they sacrificed children/teenagers on the mountains we climbed, but I assured him that I wasn't going to try and do it to him.:nod: Although, on the other hand I guess we did get pretty close to being blown up by a volcano, but that would be an accidental sacrifice.

[DiscGo]

Wow. That is pretty cool.