We managed to find out the appearance of the famous “Ice Maiden” from the Andes
Scientists have restored the face of a young girl who was sacrificed, frozen for 500 years in the Andes and became known as the “Ice Maiden” «.
Five hundred years ago, a teenage Inca girl was sacrificed and buried near the summit of Ampato, a dormant volcano in the Andes. Since the discovery of her incredibly well-preserved frozen remains in 1995, she has come to be known by many names—“The Ice Maiden,” Juanita, and Lady Ampato—but little has been known about who or what she really was.
As reported by CNN, Swedish artist Oscar Nilsson and a team of researchers from the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw and the Catholic University of Santa Maria collaborated to create a 3D reconstruction of Juanita's face.
The reconstruction was part of an exhibition at the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries in Peru entitled “Capacocha, Following the Incan Deities.” The exhibition presents the latest research on Juanita and her life, as well as finds of other Inca mummies discovered on the peaks of the Peruvian Andes.
“For many years, mummies were treated like museum pieces,” says Dr Dagmara Socha, a bioarchaeologist at the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw and curator of the exhibition. “By conducting scientific research and facial reconstruction, we want to restore their identity. A well-done reconstruction allows us to show the people who were behind the story we want to tell.”
The Inca Empire, which lasted from approximately 1200 to 1533, once stretched 4,000 kilometers across what is now Peru and Chile , recalls CNN. According to Dr. Soha, one of the most important Inca rituals was the capacocha, which involved human sacrifice with offerings of prestigious goods such as pottery, precious metals, textiles and sea shells.
According to researchers, rituals were performed to appease deities and sacred sites and protect the community from disasters such as droughts, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The peaks of the Andes were considered sacred places, and children and young women, considered beautiful and pure, were chosen for sacrifice rituals. Their sacrifices were believed to bring honor to their parents and bliss in the afterlife.
Once sacrificed, children and young women were considered “mediators” between humans and deities. According to researchers, the children were believed to have been reunited with their ancestors, who were believed to be watching from the towering peaks of the Andes.
Dr. Johan Reinhard and assistant Miguel Zarate discovered Juanita while climbing Ampato in September 1995. They reached the summit, located 6,312 meters above sea level, only to discover that part of its ridge had collapsed, exposing an Incan burial site and spilling its contents some 70 meters below.
Reinhard and Zarate noticed a bundle of cloth and, picking it up, found that they were looking into the face of the “Ice Maiden”. They carefully brought Juanita down from the mountain, where she remains to this day in a chamber set at minus 20 degrees Celsius in the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries of the Catholic University of Santa Maria, where museum visitors can see her on display.
Research has shown that Juanita was a healthy girl between the ages of 13 and 15 when she died from a blow to the head.
The exhibit features replicas of artifacts buried with the Ice Maiden, which visitors can touch. to feel their weight and texture.
She was buried in ceremonial clothing, along with ceramic objects, gold and silver female figurines, a spondylus shell, food, woven bags and pottery. The pottery was decorated with geometric shapes that are still being studied today and may have been part of the Incan communication system.
In 2018, Dr. Soha and a team of archaeologists and scientists began a five-year project to study Juanita, as well as other remains and objects found on the snow-capped volcanoes of Ampato, Misti and Pichu Pichu.
During their work, the team discovered that some children and women were chewing coca leaves and drinking ayahuasca (a hallucination infusion) in the weeks before their deaths. The findings suggest that hallucinogenic plants and psychotropic stimulants may have been used to reduce death anxiety.
The team conducted a CT scan of Juanita in March 2022 and used the results to create a 3D model of her skull. which Nilsson could have used for his reconstruction.
Tomographic scans of the Ice Maiden's body and skull were used to create the digital images, combined with research into her age, complexion and other characteristics. Nilsson used tissue depth markers based on measurements of her skull to represent the proportions of her face, including her high cheekbones.
The process of bringing Juanita's face to life took him six months and he spent 400 hours working on the model, CNN tells CNN .
Known for his work reconstructing faces from the past, Nilsson used a forensic reconstruction method based on various scientific analyzes to give Juanita the most realistic look possible.
“I have a fantastic job, but I also feel a great responsibility to ensure that the reconstruction is as accurate as possible,” Nilsson said. — But this is the best job I can imagine. I hope that you can meet a person from the past and create an emotional connection with history and her story that is so unique and remarkable.”
The reproductions of the headdress and shawl she was wearing were naturally dyed. and made from alpaca wool by Centro Textiles Tradicionales in Chinchero and Cusco, Peru.