Archaeologists rebuilt a young Incan girl who was sacrificed to the gods in Peru 500 years ago. On Tuesday, the girl’s head and body were revealed. The Incan girl’s lifelike recreated body was created using a three-dimensional scan of her mummy. Scientists from Peru and Poland created the reconstruction using digital photos of her well-preserved mummies. Her mummy was discovered in 1995 inside an Inca-era funerary bundle near the peak of the Ampato volcano near Arequipa, Peru’s southernmost city.
The Inca Empire or civilisation thrived off the western coast of South America, along the Pacific coast and in the Andean highlands. It was the most powerful empire in pre-Columbian America. Cusco was the imperial city’s administrative, political, and military hub. The civilization arose in the early 13th century from the Peruvian highlands. The empire grew rich and powerful until it was conquered by Spanish forces in 1532.
The Incan girl recreated was supposedly the girl who was sacrificed by a blow to the head,
The Incan girl recreated was supposedly the girl who was sacrificed by a blow to the head, possibly in a ritual ceremony that sought divine relief from natural disasters, as per the scientists. The reproduction was known as the Lady of Ampato or just Juanita, and she was thought to be between 14 and 15 years old. The replica is now on exhibit at Arequipa’s Catholic University of Santa Maria. It depicts her mouth open slightly and darkly, with piercing eyes gazing into the distance. It also features colourful clothing, head coverings, and decorations, all based on mummy scans.
“It’s been done in a magnificent way,” said archaeologist Johan Reinhard, who was part of the team that found the mummy. It also said that the reconstruction was especially striking since her face had been exposed to the elements and as a result was not well preserved. “Seeing her face like when she was alive, it’s a different experience because it seems so real,” he said.