The girl who was found in 1999. Inca mummies of sacrificed children and women. You can see the mummy with your own eyes in the video

A teenage girl of 14-15 years old, who was sacrificed about 500 years ago, spent all the past centuries in the ice at the top of a six-thousander, which contributed to excellent preservation. Next to her were found the frozen bodies of two more young victims: a seven-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.

1. Instead of traditional DNA testing, scientists examined proteins in the tissue and determined that the apparently healthy girl had a bacterial lung infection resembling tuberculosis. For the first time, an infection has been detected in a mummy.

2. A group of researchers from the City University of New York, led by Angelique Corthals, studied samples of the mummy (the so-called Maiden, “Maiden”).

3. A unique mummy was discovered in 1999 on the slope of the Llullaillaco volcano, rising 6739 meters above sea level on the border of Argentina and Chile.

4. Three mummies were found, which, unlike their embalmed Egyptian “colleagues,” were deep frozen. They also began to study the body of a seven-year-old boy, but scientists have not yet decided to examine the remains of a six-year-old girl. It was probably hit by lightning at some point, which may affect the accuracy of the research results.

5. Most likely, three children were sacrificed, as evidenced by the artifacts located next to them: gold, silver, clothes, bowls of food and an extravagant headdress made of white feathers of unknown birds.

6. Historians suggest that children were chosen by the Incas for their beauty (in addition, children were considered purer creatures than adults). The Incas did not sacrifice children very often.

Baby's angel-like face Rosalia Lombardo captivates with beauty. Plump lips, tender cheeks and closed eyes - she has remained like this for almost a century. The body of two-year-old Rosalia was embalmed using a special technology, and today "Sleeping Beauty" considered the best preserved mummy in the world. However, this mummy has its own secret, which will shock everyone who dares to look at it.

Baby Rosalia was only two years old when she died of pneumonia in 1920. The inconsolable father, not knowing how to survive the pain of loss, turned to the famous embalmer and taxidermist Alfred Salafia for help with a request to preserve the body of the angelic child. The specialist coped with the task perfectly: for a whole century, the baby’s body lay in the burial catacombs in Palermo (Italy). The girl's body looked beautiful, it seemed that she had fallen asleep for a short time and was about to wake up. Chubby cheeks, elegant hairstyle with a bow - Rosalia looked like she was alive.

When scientists discovered Rosalia's mummified body, they gave her the name "Sleeping Beauty." Having illuminated the body with X-rays, they were amazed: the internal organs remained incorruptible. Today, the body of Rosalia Lombardo is considered one of the best preserved mummies in the world.

The mummy of Rosalia also has its own mystery: visitors who come on an excursion to the catacombs claim that they can see the baby opening her blue eyes. What they see causes fear among tourists. According to one version, the “winking” effect occurs due to temperature changes inside the crypt; the skin of the eyelids shrinks, opening the pupils slightly. However, exhibition curator Dario Piombino-Mascali believes that the winking eyes are an optical illusion. As the sun illuminates the catacombs, the rays fall on the girl’s face in such a way that her eyes look slightly open. This phenomenon can be observed several times throughout the day. Dario found the answer in 2009, when museum workers moved the girl’s coffin, and it became clear that the eyelids were slightly open.

It is also interesting that Dario found the relatives of the talented embalmer, and they kept documents with a detailed description of the procedure for embalming the body. Instead of removing all the internal organs, Alfred Salafia made a puncture in the body and gradually introduced substances one by one, which ensured the perfect preservation of the body over time. Formaldehyde killed bacteria, glycerin was used to prevent the body from drying out, and salicylic acid was used as an antifungal agent. In addition, Salafiya used zinc chloride to petrify the body, and in the future there would be no failure in the cheeks and nasal cavity.

The body of this girl was discovered in 1999. According to rough estimates, her biological age is fourteen to fifteen years and, apparently, she lay in the ice for more than 500 years.

Archaeologists discovered it on the slope of the Llullaillaco volcano at the intersection of Argentina and Chile. Similar mummified remains were found nearby: a seven-year-old boy and a girl about six years old. Scientists did not conduct a DNA analysis, but immediately moved on to a bacterial study of proteins in tissues and concluded that the girl, who outwardly looked completely healthy, had an infection in her body like tuberculosis. This is the first time a lung infection has been found in a mummy. Before this, science had not known such cases.

Scientists from New York University conducted research on these remains. The mummy was named “Maiden”. This incredible find forced researchers to puzzle over the question - how did the girl manage to be so well preserved?

In total, three embalmed mummies were discovered near the top of the volcano, which were immersed in suspended animation (deep freezing). But at some point the procedure failed and the children did not survive. Scientists began studying the boy’s body, but they decided to wait with the six-year-old girl. The reason for this is the instrument readings, which show that the girl was struck by lightning. In this regard, they decided to postpone the study of the remains, as this could affect the accuracy of the results.

The surroundings around the find confirm the scientists’ guesses. Researchers found jewelry, various artifacts, food, and a strange object resembling a feather cap. Usually such things indicate that a ritual was performed in this place.

The Incas deliberately practiced child sacrifice. Children are recognized as blameless. Besides, these children turned out to be beautiful. Child sacrifices were rare among the Incas, as they required careful and lengthy preparation.

Further research indicates that before the sacrifice, these children were “fattened” with the best dishes for a whole year. Llama meat, candied fruits, various “elite” drinks. Before this, they were ordinary poor people who had never touched such food in their lives. Their diet consisted of simple peasant food. This is a kind of compensation. But was it worth it? Live for a year in a golden cage, only to be sacrificed later.

The history of our civilization is fraught with many incredible secrets. Where did these children come from? Why were they sacrificed? How were the ancient Incas able to achieve such skill in embalming the human body? These are all amazing things that modern science cannot answer. We can only guess and conduct research that may one day bring results.

You can see the mummy with your own eyes in the video:

Teenagers sacrificed by the ancient Incas consumed coca leaves and beer for a long time. This conclusion was reached by archaeologists from several countries who examined the mummy of a teenage girl found in 1995.

Previously, scientists believed that victims were given drugs only before death and during the ascent to the mountain peak where the ritual was performed. Details with reference to an article by researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences are provided by Nature News. Day.Az reports this with reference to Lenta.ru.

Scientists have studied the mummified remains of a girl whose age at the time of death was about 13 years old, and at the moment the girl is about 500 years old. Many of the circumstances of her death were already well known, so archaeologists carried out additional analyses: in particular, the hair of the “ice bride” was examined. Using mass spectrometry, it was possible to determine the content of cocaine and cocaethylene, one of the metabolites of cocaine, in hair. These analyzes showed drug levels at the level of modern coca leaf users, which cannot be explained by the one-time use of coca before a ritual.

Previously, it was widely believed among archaeologists that coca leaves were given to victims when climbing to the place of their death (mummies of Inca children are found at an altitude of almost six kilometers) and immediately before the murder. It was assumed that the victims also received some other intoxicating substance, which was supposed to facilitate the process of sacrifice: and before this, the children chosen for the ritual did not consume any substances affecting the psyche. Scientists analyzed the hair not only of the “ice bride”, but also of two other mummies, which only strengthened their hypothesis: they all chewed coca leaves for a year. In addition, archaeologists have revealed similar traces of alcohol consumption: the victims drank quite a lot of beer for about a year. Alcohol and coca were, according to researchers, part of the ritual preparation for the sacrifice.

The mummy was very well preserved due to the low temperature in the highlands. Archaeologists were even able to determine its mass, which, according to scientists, is close to lifetime weight, about forty kilograms.

Previous studies, including isotope analysis in 2007, have also shown victims switching to higher-value foods, including meat. The information accumulated by archaeologists allows us to say that children or teenagers were selected for the role of victims (if the “ice bride” is 13 and she could very well be a real bride, then the other two mummies are children 4 and 5 years old: a boy and a girl), who then They lived a different life from all other Incas. They were fed the best food, given alcohol and coca leaves, they wore special clothes, and after a year they were sent to the highest mountain peaks. Death, as determined by forensic doctors who studied the mummies, occurred due to a blow to the head with a blunt object. The Ice Bride died after she was hit with what looked like a modern baseball bat, fracturing her skull and causing a massive hemorrhage that compressed her brain.

The bodies of all the victims were thrown from the mountainside along with many objects, including gold and silver figurines.

Human sacrifice, including the ritual killing of children, was common in almost all pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas. The Incas made sacrifices during important events in honor of the gods, of whom there were several dozen in their pantheon. Among the main ones, the sun god Inti and the supreme god Viracocha stand out.