Child Sacrifice, PROTECTED FROM DECAY
Protected from Decay
A team of scientists announced this week that they have recreated the face of Peru’s most famous mummy, “Juanita,” or the “Inca Ice Maiden.” The Inca girl is thought to have been sacrificed when she was between the ages of 13 and 15 some 500 years ago. Her body was discovered in 1995 near the summit of Mount Ampato in the Andes of southern Peru. Mummified by centuries of ice and snow, the body was well-preserved and is just one example of how mummification can occur naturally. Learn about the many ways a human body can be protected from decay.