This 15 year old girl was sacrificed 500 years ago.
She is preserved this well because she was frozen
during sleep & kept in a dry cold condition.
She was an archaeological revolution for being one
of the best preserved mummies, since there was
even blood in her body & her internal organs remained.
According to researchers who discovered the
mummified remains, the girl and two other
youngsters were left on a mountaintop to succumb
to the cold as offerings to the gods.
Left to die as an offering to the gods more than 500
years ago, this young girl was called La Doncella or The Maiden.
La Doncella was dressed in a ceremonial tunic and
adorned with a hood, symbols of her new status as
a messenger to heaven. Moreover, he had spent the last year feeding quite well.
Biochemical samples from her braided hair showed
what she had eaten and drank in almost the past
two years. It was concluded that he had consumed
select foods such as corn and animal protein (llama
meat) for 1 year before her death. However, the use
of coca has increased gradually in the last year and
it has been proven that this dose has increased
gradually in the last 6 months. When she was
found, a large chewed coca leaf was found in her mouth.
The mummy, called La Doncella or The Maiden, is
that of a teenage girl who died more than 500 years
ago in a ritual sacrifice in the Andes Mountains.
Researchers suspected that the young girl was
Aklya Kona (sun priestesses of the Incas who took
an oath of purity and lived in temples) or that she was one of the daughters chosen under the
guidance of the nuns.
Because Aklya Kona’s were chosen from 9 to 10-
year-old peasant girls who attracted attention with
their beauty and talents at an early age. Some of
the children were sacrificed in religious rituals
before they reached the age of 15.
The products found with the victims were quite
exclusive and special. Ornate, well-crafted gold and
silver statues next to finely woven ornate
children’s clothes, feathered headdresses brought
from the Amazon Basin, figures made of prickly
oyster shells… None of these products were
accessible to ordinary people. All this showed the
researchers the status of those who carried out this
event and that it was done by the most competent power.
As exciting as it is to see the extent to which
physical remains can support the archaeological
record and history, it’s truly chilling when a 13-
year-old looks like she’s about to open her eyes at any moment.
Nevertheless, it’s really impressive to see how far
nature is still ahead of us in preserving the remains.
Today the mummies are display in the Museo de
Arqueología de Alta Montaña (MAAM) in Salta, Argentina.