Incredible discovery by archaeologists: an Inca girl more than 500 years old

The 14-15 year old teenage girl, who was sacrificed about 500 years ago, had been lying in the ice on top of a six-thousand-year-old mountain for all of the past century, which contributed to her excellent preservation. Next to her are the frozen bodies of two other young victims: a seven-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.

1. Instead of the traditional DNA analysis, scientists examined proteins in the tissues and determined that the apparently healthy girl had a bacterial lung infection resembling tuberculosis. This is the first time the infection has been identified in a mummy.

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

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

4. Three mummies were found which, unlike their embalmed Egyptian “counterparts”, had been deep-frozen. The body of a seven-year-old boy has also been studied, but scientists still do not dare to examine the remains of a six-year-old girl. Perhaps she was once struck by lightning, which may affect the accuracy of the results of the study.

5. It is likely that the three children were sacrificed, as evidenced by the artifacts next to them: gold, silver, clothing, bowls of food and an extravagant headdress of white feathers of unknown birds.

6. Historians suggest that children were chosen by the Incas for their beauty (besides, children were considered purer beings than adults) and sacrificed. The Incas did not sacrifice children very often.

7. Previous research has shown that children were fed with “elite” foods such as maize and dried llama meat for a year before they were sacrificed, although they had previously eaten only peasant foods consisting of potatoes and vegetables.