15-year-old girl astounded archaeologists after being discovered and perfectly preserved for over 500 years
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: Natacha Pisarenko/AP via National Geographic
Archeologists have praised the incredible preservation of a 15-year-old girl who was discovered more than 500 years after her death.
Known as 'The Maiden', the mummified remains of the Inca girl were discovered by archaeologists in Argentina in 1999.
She was found alongside two other children who have come to be known as 'the boy' and 'the girl of lightening', all of who are believed to have been left on a mountaintop as offerings to the gods.
The children weren't purposefully preserved; instead the cold weather on the mountaintop worked to mummify their bodies, leaving their organs, blood, skin and even facial features largely unscathed.
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The Maiden was dressed in a ceremonial tunic and wore a headpiece; clothing which National Geographic reports were tokens of her status as a messenger to the heavens.
Johan Reinhard, who co-led the expedition, was blown away by the discovery, which he described at the time as 'the best preserved of any mummy I've seen'.
Speaking to National Geographic in 2005, he added: "The discovery of the three mummies [in 1999] … was the highlight of my life, or certainly [of] my work in the Andes.
"These mummies were far better preserved … than the Ice Maiden."
The Ice Maiden was another frozen mummy found on a Peruvian peak in 1995.
As well as looking almost exactly as she did more than 500 years ago, The Maiden provided scientists with insight to the foods Inca people had access to.
She was found to have drunk corn liquor, which scientists have speculated may have been used to put her asleep.
There were also fragments of coca leaves in her mouth, which the Inca chewed to help reduce the effects of altitude sickness as they climbed the mountain.
The other children in her company on the mountain top were a six-year-old girl who earned her nickname due to the fact she had been struck by lightning sometime after she died, resulting in burns on her face and upper body.
The boy who was found mummified was seven years old.
Though the children were sacrificed, this was believed to be an honor in their community.
Inca belief was that the children did not die, but rather joined their ancestors to watch over their villages.
Only healthy and beautiful children were sacrificed. DNA tests showed that the three children chosen for this particular sacrifice were not related.
In 2007, the mummified body of The Maiden was put on display for the first time at the Museum of High Altitude Archaeology.