Was there human sacrifices in pre-Columbian cultures and especially in Peru? What is the story of the discovery of Mummy Juanita? Was there human sacrifices in pre-Columbian cultures and especially in Peru? What is the story of the discovery of Mummy Juanita?


Was there human sacrifices in pre-Columbian cultures and especially in Peru? What is the story of the discovery of Mummy Juanita?

Mummy Juanita and human sacrifices in the Andes 


This is absolutely by accident that, during an expedition to Ampato Mount in 1992, a team of the Peruvian climber Miguel Zarate discovered fragments of wood objects, arousing their curiosity. He came back in 1995 and the chance decided that some months before their second expedition, a nearby volcano erupted and the incandescent ash deposition melted part of the ice that covered the climbing road. Thanks to this eruption, entire objects, statutes and offerings are found in the open air and by rolling some big stones, they could flash a mummy of a young girl. 

The body conservation status of the young Inca is excellent, thanks to the very low temperature (nearly 6000m altitude); the clothes she’s wearing, her age (between 12 and 14 years old), her grave location and the aperture on her right brow bone show that she has been sacrificed. She probably was part of the Inca high nobility and she is one of the few (about 20 on this mountain) to be discovered in those conditions. This suggests that Inca perpetrated human sacrifices in timely, giving in offering members of the Inca high society and no slaves (like in the Mayas community) to mountain spirits, volcanos, etc. They should be tranquilized to avoid natural disasters like eruptions, avalanches, etc. 

We also could see several information about the Inca life conditions and traditions because the corporal liquids, hair, nails, bacteria, virus and food in the stomach were mostly intact as well. This body and everything around it made like a jump into time of 500 years; this is a quite extraordinary example for Archaeology and History. 


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