The mummy girl froze for 500 years intact as if it had just died

Peruvian climber Miguel Zárate and his colleagues took years to find the frozen mummy of an Inca girl, a scapegoat on the mountain.

In 1992, Peruvian climber Miguel Zárate led an ampato expedition (6,288 m high) when he found strange pieces of wood on the icy peak. He suspects this is the place to bury someone, according to mLonely Planet.

Picture 1 of The mummy girl froze for 500 years intact as if it had just died
Juanita's mummy was intact as if it had just died.

In September 1995, Zárate persuaded American archaeologist Johan Reinhard to return to the mountain after the eruption of the Sabancaya volcano. The eruption melted the snow atop Ampato and exposed secrets for hundreds of years,

Zárate found a statue and many offerings on the top of the mountain, but no body. The expedition had to roll the rocks down the mountainside to search and until then, the Inca girl's mummy was revealed.

The frozen mummy , aged 12-14 years old, remained intact after more than 500 years. The Incas had a custom of sacrificing children on the top of the mountain, hoping that the gods would protect them from catastrophic natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, landslides or extreme weather.

It took several days for the mummy to be taken from the top of the mountain to a village in Cabanaconde. From here, the mummy was transferred to Catholic University. 'Experts were surprised to see the mummy intact as if it had just died a few weeks ago , ' archaeologist Reinhard said in a 1999 interview.

Picture 2 of The mummy girl froze for 500 years intact as if it had just died
Mummies help learn more about the Inca civilization.

According to experts, the thin air and cold conditions on the top of the mountain helped the mummy to remain intact, with thick black hair and skin showing fluff.

The Inca girl's mummy today is called Juanita - The Ice Maiden . In later studies, Juanita's hair samples were analyzed to find the diet before the sacrifice.

Accordingly, Juanita was chosen to be the sacrifice a year earlier. She used to eat only potatoes and vegetables, but she ate protein-rich foods like meat and drank alcohol and coca leaves before being sacrificed.

The Incas often used sacrifices to use coca leaves and alcohol to become comatose, not feeling the bitter cold. But assessment results also showed that Juanita died from a blow to the head, causing a hematoma in the skull.

In addition to Juanita mummy, archaeologists later found a series of other baby mummies around Ampato peak, considered as living evidence of the existence of the Incas.

Today, Juanita's mummy is on display at the Museo Santuarios Andinos museum in Arequipa city, Peru.