In 1995, the American anthropologist Johan Reinhard and his team of archaeologists ascended the snowy peak of Ampato, 6,318 meters above sea level. The expedition to this inactive volcano located in the south of Peru had the objective of analyzing the destruction caused by another nearby volcano, Sabancaya. But the script had to be changed after an impressive discovery.
At the top of Ampato, researchers discovered a frozen body of an Inca teenager still wearing her cloth clothing and who was buried very close to the crater about 500 years ago. The young woman, known as Juanita, had been sacrificed in honor of this massif of the Andes mountain range, considered one of the most important deities of the Inca culture.
Juanita has become one of the most famous mummies in Peru over the years and now you can finally see what her real face must have looked like. Her silicone bust with pronounced cheekbones, black eyes and tanned skin was presented this Tuesday at the Catholic University of Santa María de Arequipa.
“I thought I would never know what her face looked like when she was alive because the cloth covering her face had torn and the skin dried out,” explained Dr. Johan Reinhard, special guest at the ceremony. “Now, 28 years later, this has become a reality,” he added, “thanks to the reconstruction by Oscar Nilsson,” a Swedish sculptor specialized in facial reconstructions who dedicated some 400 hours of work to that work.
The first step in achieving the Ice Lady’s face was to “obtain a replica of the skull.” Then “body scans, DNA studies, ethnological characteristics, age and complexion were used,” the specialists said in a statement.
According to anthropological studies, Juanita was sacrificed between 1440 and 1450 AD, when she was between 13 and 15 years old. She was 1.40 meters tall, weighed 35 kilos and was well fed. The probable cause of her death was a severe blow to the right occipital lobe, as revealed by a CT scan done by experts at Johns Hopkins University.
Reinhard, who has discovered more than 14 Incan human sacrifices high in the Andes, including three children in a frozen pit on Argentina’s Llullaillaco volcano, said archaeologists have been analyzing aspects of Juanita’s life, such as her diet and the objects found next to it.
“These findings have helped us better understand their life and the Inca culture,” he said. “Now we can see what she was really like, which makes her even more alive.” The young woman’s body is currently preserved in a special chamber, at -20 degrees Celsius, in the Andean Sanctuaries Museum of the Catholic University of Santa María.
Archaeologists began their research in 2018 by documenting the bodies and objects found in the Ampato, in the province of Caylloma, as well as in the snowy volcanoes Misti and Pichupichu (Arequipa), where the Incas practiced the ritual of the Capacocha.
The liturgy was promoted by the Inca, being one of the most important rituals of the Tawantinsuyu empire, and consisted of making offerings of request or gratitude to the sun. However, this ritual was also carried out on special occasions, such as a natural disaster.
The central part of this magical-religious rite was the sacrifice of a minor at the top of the volcano as an offering to the gods. The body was always accompanied by a series of offerings such as ceramic miniatures, precious metals, textiles or unique sea shells that came from different parts of the empire. According to Inca belief, the offered children did not die, but were reunited with their ancestors, who watched from the tops of the high mountains.
Juanita’s body was accompanied by 37 ceramic objects decorated with geometric figures. Researchers consider that these spellings could be a communication system developed by the Incas.
