It is the most famous mummy in Peru. Her name is Juanita. A team of Peruvian and Polish archaeologists devised a way to bring it “to life.” They worked together with a Swedish sculptor specialized in facial reconstruction. Thus, the original face of a famous Inca mummy was revealed.
Juanita’s face was recreated. She is about an Inca teenager sacrificed in a ritual more than 500 years ago at the top of the Andes. Juanita or the Inca Ice Maiden was first discovered by the American anthropologist Johan Reinhard in 1995. She appeared at more than 6,000 meters above sea level on the Ampato volcano.
sacrificed teenager
«I thought I would never know what her face looked like when she was alive. Now 28 years later, this has become a reality thanks to Oscar Nilsson’s reconstruction. This was stated by Johan Reinhard, in a ceremony held at the Andean Sanctuaries Museum of the Catholic University of Santa María, in Arequipa.
Oscar Nilsson is a Swedish archaeologist and sculptor specializing in 3D facial reconstructions of ancient humans. He commented Associated Press that it took him “about 400 hours of work” to model the face of the most famous Peruvian mummy. The reconstruction began with a replica of Juanita’s skull. A body scan, DNA testing and analysis of ethnological characteristics, age and complexion followed. Anthropological studies indicate that the young woman was sacrificed between 1440 and 1450 after Christ. At that time she was between 13 and 15 years old.
young and healthy
«Natural disasters occurred. “They urged the priests to calm their gods with children raised in conditions of purity, to appease their anger.” This is how Johan Reinhard explained it.
The original face of an Inca mummy was brought to the present thanks to technology. Apparently, Juanita was 1.40 meters tall, weighed 35 kilos and was in good health. A CT scan revealed the cause of her death. It was a strong blow to her right occipital lobe.
