The finding at Mount Ampato
There are experiences in life that are so symbolic you will always remember them. This is one of mine. It was 2002, 7 years after her discovery when I first laid eyes on Juanita the Inca Ice Maiden and I have always remembered her.
At the time I wrote “despite the circumstances surrounding her death at such a young age, we can still find beauty in her history and sacrifice.” Now with a young daughter of my own I know if I were to see her again, her story would have an even more profound effect on me.
Juanita was discovered on Mount Ampato, near Arequipa, Peru in 1995 by a climber and an anthropologist. Due to an eruption on a nearby volcano, sections of snow on Mount Ampato melted, causing ridges to melt and fall away. Strewn over a distance, the tomb of Juanita had fallen down the mountain with artifacts, food offerings and her frozen cloth wrapped body.
She is well preserved and it is believed was sacrificed as a spiritual offering to the Inca gods in the mid 1400’s. She was around 11 – 15 years old when she walked up the mountain. There are many who would believe this is barbaric and incredulously ponder how a culture could have done such a thing to their children. In our society today, she is a child. However, in the 1400’s there is no luxury, there is basic living and hardship, the spiritual belief in gods is a part of the culture and Juanita was entering womanhood, not enjoying childhood. Scientists believe Juanita was healthy, had perfect teeth, wore noble clothing and a virgin, adding weight to the theory hers was a sacrifice offering to the gods as a “chosen one”.
It’s not a surprise the find caused a stir around the world. A beautiful healthy girl taken before her time as a chosen one for the gods – and she is beautiful. How must the world have existed then, how much we don’t know about their culture and the spiritual aura that surrounds her when you see and hear her story. Her journey up the mountain knowing what awaited her.
Juanita is a natural mummy because she walked up the mountain and was sacrificed at her final resting place; the freezing temperatures preserved her skin, organs, tissues, blood, hair and even what she last ate. For this reason, I could see her and she is real and she is still telling her story. Curled up in a foetal position, preserved and on ice waiting to be reborn into her next life – she is simple, beautiful and interesting. I wanted to connect with her – wonder how she felt as she walked toward her fate and as her people gave gifts and offerings as she passed them. I wanted to know her story. And I still do.
It’s one of the things travelling does to you. It makes you appreciate there was life long before we left our footprints and there will be life long after we are gone. Juanita has the privilege of teaching us that life does go on.