The Llullaillaco is located on the Chile-Argentina border, next to Paso de Socompa border crossing. The summit is 22,100 feet (6,739 meters) above sea level, where temperatures were chilled enough to preserve the bodies, turning them into mummies, after the kids were sacrificed some 500 years ago.The Maiden mummy of a 15-year-old girl who was sacrificed some 500 years ago suggests she likely suffered from a lung infection at the time of her death, scientists reported July 25, 2012.The mummy of a 6-year-old girl was also found on the summit of the Argentinian volcano Llullaillaco, though she showed signs of having been struck by lightning so wasn't sampled.The three Llullaillaco mummies, including that of the 7-year-old boy (shown here), are preserved at Museum of High Mountain Archaeology (MAAM) in Salta, Argentina.Shown here, the CT scan of the brain of the 6-year-old female mummy who was likely struck by lightning. The scan, released in December 2003, shows her orbits with presence of eyes, optic nerves (arrows), and orbital muscles.A brain scan of the 15-year-old female Maiden mummy shows differentiation between the white and gray matter in the brain's cerebral hemispheres, with the arrows pointing out air surrounding the brain.The CT scan of the mummy of the 5-year-old boy showed his preserved brain was in excellent condition even though he had been sacrificed some 500 years ago.Three Incan mummies sacrificed 500 years ago were regularly given drugs and alcohol before their death, particularly the eldest child called the Maiden (shown here), to make them more compliant, researchers have found.In the study detailed in the July 29, 2013, issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team found that the younger children ingested coca and alcohol at a steady rate, but the Maiden consumed significantly more coca in her final year, with peak consumption occurring at approximately six months before her death.The researchers also discovered a sizeable coca quid (lump for chewing) in between the teeth of the Maiden Incan mummy, suggesting the child was sedated when she died some 500 years ago.Stay up to date on the coronavirus outbreak by signing up to our newsletter today.Thank you for signing up to Live Science. There are descendants of the Inca people who have expressed their belief that exhumation and display of the bodies are sacrilege and a gesture of great disrespected towards their culture.Rogelio Guanuco, the leader of the Indigenous Association of Argentina, stated on the issue that “Even though the three mummies of Llullaillaco remain exhibited in the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology in the Argentine city of Salta, agreements were made to stop further excavation of tombs in the High Andes area.Join 1000s of subscribers and receive the best Vintage News in your mailbox for FREE Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer Due to this particular coincidence, she was nicknamed the Lightning Girl.What remains fascinating is the degree to which the mummies are preserved.
New York, Thanks to the difficulties encountered in even reaching high mountain summits, the offerings have provided rare evidence of Inca religion that has survived the impact o…
In the lands ruled by the Incas, mountain summits were selected as places for making the most important of all offerings—human sacrifices. The Maiden, aka La Doncella, was found entombed in a small chamber 1.5 metres underground near the summit of Volcán Llullaillaco in Argentina, cross-legged showing no signs of distress due to the use of sedatives during the sacrificial ritual. Museum of High Altitude Archaeology. “A new analysis in 2012 concluded that the Maiden of Llullaillaco was infected by a virus that has been long extinct. The three Llullaillaco mummies, including that of the 7-year-old boy (shown here), are preserved at Museum of High Mountain Archaeology (MAAM) in Salta, Argentina. The oldest one apparently held a special place among them, for she was found with elaborately braided hair, wearing a feathered headdress on her head and surrounded by a number of artifacts placed on a cloth that was draped over her knees.She was discovered sitting in a cross-legged position, contrary to the boy, who was tightly wrapped in a blanket, which the autopsy later confirmed caused suffocation. A biochemical analysis of the hair of the oldest mummy, dubbed the Maiden of Llullaillaco, provided the details of the preparation process.Archeological site at the top of Llullaillaco Author Christian Vitri CC By SA 3.0It included a special diet and regular doses of coca leaves (from which cocaine is derived), intended both to sedate the future victims as well as to initiate them into another kind of ritual, as coca and its mind-altering effect was a regular part of the religious life of Incas. The other young girl received a similar treatment to the Maiden, but with fewer decorations, which indicates that her relevance was secondary.Well after her death, lighting struck her corpse, damaging her face and part of her shoulder. They replaced many of the indigenous buildings with convents and military barracks.Despite the scarce sources, it is well known about the Incas that peaks such as Llullaillaco were used as grounds for human sacrifices in rituals intended to ensure a good harvest, prevent natural disasters, or give a blessing to new emperors of the vast Incan realm.So the three bodies found frozen in 1999 were most definitely part of a sacrificial rite that took place in the Andes in the 16th century.The mummies found there were, in fact, children―the oldest of them being between 13 and 15 years of age―who spent the last year of their lives preparing for their role in the religious ceremony. Location. Three child mummies were discovered on the summit of the Llullaillaco volcano located on the Argentina-Chile border. Please refresh the page and try again.Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.
It is the highest archeological site in the world at 6730m.