Posted on 09/07/2007 2:23:51 PM PDT by BenLurkin
SALTA, Argentina - Museumgoers gasped Thursday at the well-preserved mummy of an Inca maiden which is on display for the first time, a serene gaze etched on her face hundreds of years ago when she froze to death in the Andes.
Hundreds of people packed a museum in Salta, Argentina, to see "la Doncella" — Spanish for "the Maiden" — a 15-year-old girl whose remains were found in 1999 in an icy pit on Llullaillaco volcano, along with a 6-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy.
Scientists believe the so-called Children of Llullaillaco were sacrificed more than 500 years ago in a ceremony marking the annual corn harvest. Dressed in fine clothes and given corn alcohol to put them to sleep, the victims were then left to die at an elevation of 22,080 feet.
"Just this morning we have had more than 700 people come see the exhibit, and we had hundreds yesterday when it opened," said High Mountain Archaeological Museum director Gabriel Miremont.
The mummy is kept in a chamber that pumps chilled air through a low-oxygen atmosphere, simulating the subfreezing conditions where it was found. The other two children are being studied and not on display.
Seated with her legs bent and her arms resting on her stomach, the Maiden's remains are still adorned with a gray shawl and bone and metal ornaments. Scientists say her face was daubed with red pigment and around her mouth they found flecks of coca leaf, which is chewed by highland Indians to blunt the effects of altitude.
The Children of Llullaillaco were found at the highest elevation ever discovered for sacrificial victims of the former Inca empire, which ran along the Andes from present-day northern Argentina to Peru.
Yep!...........
ping
That’s what I was thinking/remembering, too.
I’d hit on her....
Nope. Clinton wanted to "ask out" a different mummy. That one, known as Juanita, was discovered in 1995. This one was found in 1999.
Every time I hear the word mummy I am reminded of one of the greatest Hillary jokes of all time, which was actually coind by Bubba’s own press secretary, Mike McCurry. Bill was at some kind of museam and saw the remains of some mummy. Bill commented that “that’s a pretty good looking mummy. If I’d of been around back then I’d have dated that mummy.” To which McCurry replied, “Hey, it’s better than the mummy he’s sleeping with now.”
Ice Maiden - "Juanita" of Peru
Also known as "Juanita", the Inca Ice Maiden was discovered on Mount Ampato, near Arequipa, Peru by Johann Reinhard in 1995. She was sacrificed sometime around the ages of 12-14 and lived about 500 years ago. Her body lay frozen at the mountaintop until a nearby volcanic eruption melted Mount Ampato's ice cap. Mitosearch: H35HN
Name = Ice Maiden
Haplo mtDNA = A
Sequence = 16111T, 16223T, 16290T, 16319A
From http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/peru/worlds/sacrifice2.html
On the day of the sacrifice, the child would be fed chicha, a maize alcohol, presumably to ease the pain of the cold, the altitude, and perhaps the fear of dying. Much ritual celebrating would take place at the platform as the child would be wrapped in ceremonial clothing, placed inside the tomb, and surrounded with the sacred artifacts that would accompany him/her into the Other World. This was the ultimate sacrifice the Inca could make to please the mountain gods: to offer up their own children in the highest places humans could possibly reach.
Whether the children died a violent death remains a debate among scientists. Skull fractures have been found on most of the sacrificial mummies. Johan Reinhard, who admits Juanita, too, has a skull fracture on the back of her head, believes this was a quick and painless means of knocking the children out so that they wouldn’t have to suffer a long and grueling death of exposure to the elements. He believes the children were knocked out with a blow to a cushioning towel on the backs of their heads.
Once the child died of exposure, the priests would continue to return to the site, making offerings of coca leaves and filling in the burial site with dirt. Often a miniature figurine of the child would be placed on the surface near the burial site, along with more simple offerings like ichu, wild grass from the slopes thousands of feet below. For Jose Antonio Chavez and Johan Reinhard, these are often the first clues they look for in their search for sacrificial Inca children buried on the frozen mountain tops of the Andes.
Anyone who wants to have a bodacious vacation should consider Argentina. Buenos Aires is fabuloso, clean, inexpensive and marvelous. Incredibly good charro (BBQ meats) and great sights to see. To the north, at the border with Brazil, are the Iguazzu waterfalls, a sight that will last forever in your mind.
Only because she was 14 years old.
.
Whew, hot babe! Do you have her number??
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Thanks lesser_satan. |
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U R SIK! Remember, the Incan mummy has an Incan daddy some where
You realize that that was a play on a Bill Clinton quote.....from when he viewed an egyptian mummy when in office...
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