Mummy Juanita

Juanita, also known as the Lady of Ampato and the Ice Maiden, is the exceptionally well-preserved frozen body of an Inca girl who was sacrificed in a capacocha ritual between about 1440 and 1480 CE, when she was approximately 12–15 years old. Discovered in 1995 on Mount Ampato in southern Peru, her body was preserved by freezing temperatures at high altitude, making her one of the best-preserved Andean mummies ever found.

Juanita was discovered by anthropologist Johan Reinhard and Peruvian mountaineer Miguel Zárate after melting ice and erosion exposed and displaced her burial bundle. The survival of her soft tissues, internal organs, hair, skin, blood, and stomach contents has allowed researchers to investigate her health, genetic ancestry, diet, injuries, and cause of death in unusual detail. These studies have provided evidence about Inca religion, high-altitude ceremonial practices, and the treatment of children selected for sacrifice.

Since 1996, Juanita has been exhibited almost continuously at the Museo Santuarios Andinos of the Catholic University of Santa María in Arequipa, Peru. She was exhibited at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., in 1996 and in Japan in 1999. In 1995, Time named her discovery one of the world's ten most important discoveries of the year, and in 2020 Peru's Ministry of Culture designated her remains a movable cultural heritage object.

Discovery The girl who became known as Juanita was discovered in September 1995 during an ascent of Mount Ampato, a volcano in the Andes of southern Peru. While investigating an Inca ceremonial site near the summit, anthropologist Johan Reinhard and Peruvian mountaineer Miguel Zárate found a burial bundle in a crater below. Ice melt and erosion had exposed the site, causing the bundle to fall from its original location on the mountain.

Condition and preservation Juanita was discovered almost entirely frozen on Mount Ampato. Freezing temperatures at high altitude preserved her body in exceptional condition, including her internal organs, hair, blood, skin, and stomach contents.

Unlike many archaeological human remains, Juanita was preserved primarily by freezing rather than desiccation. The survival of soft tissues and internal organs allowed researchers to study her diet, health, genetic ancestry, and injuries in unusual detail. Because of the condition of her remains, Juanita has been described as one of the best-preserved mummies from the Andes.

Juanita was wrapped in a brightly coloured burial tapestry (aksu) and wore an alpaca wool shawl fastened with a silver clasp and a headdress made from the feathers of a red macaw, a bird native to the Amazon basin. Her garments resembled the fine textiles worn by the elite of Cusco, the Inca capital, leading archaeologists to suggest that she may have belonged to a noble Cusco family. Early comparisons suggested similarities with the Ngäbe people of Panama, although later research found genetic patterns more consistent with populations from the Andes.

Sacrifice and death Juanita is believed to have been sacrificed between 1440 and 1480 CE as part of a capacocha (qhapaq hucha) ceremony, a major ritual of the Inca Empire that often involved the sacrifice of children at sacred sites.

Juanita was sacrificed on Mount Ampato in the Andes of southern Peru, one of several high mountains used by the Inca for ceremonial offerings. Other researchers have interpreted capacocha as a political practice that helped reinforce imperial authority across the expanding Inca Empire.

Scientific examination of Juanita's remains indicates that she died from a forceful blow to the head. Radiologist Elliot K. Fishman identified a fractured right eye socket and a skull fracture measuring approximately , injuries that caused severe bleeding within the skull. Blunt-force trauma was one of several methods used in Inca child sacrifice, alongside strangulation and suffocation.

Exhibition

After her discovery in 1995, Juanita's remains were taken to Arequipa, Peru, where they were conserved before being placed on public display. Since 1996, she has been exhibited almost continuously at the Museo Santuarios Andinos (Museum of Andean Sanctuaries) at the Catholic University of Santa María.

Between May and June 1996, Juanita was exhibited at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., in a specially designed climate-controlled display. In 1999, Juanita was exhibited in Japan. Legacy Shortly after her discovery, Time magazine named Juanita one of the world's ten most important discoveries of 1995. The discovery was also the subject of a feature article in the June 1996 issue of National Geographic.