Discovered in 1995 in the Ampato volcano in southern Peru.
Polish-Peruvian research team restores mummy’s face
Sculptor: “It took about 400 hours to restore.”
The life image of a teenage Inca girl who was sacrificed at the top of the Andes Mountains in South America about 500 years ago has been revealed.
According to the U.S. Associated Press on the 25th (local time), a research team from Poland and Peru, together with a Swedish sculptor who specializes in facial reconstruction, reconstructed the mummy’s face using 3D reconstruction technology. The created bust was unveiled at a ceremony held at the Andean Sacred Sites Museum at the Catholic University of Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru.
Known as the ‘Ice Maiden of the Incas,’ the mummy was first discovered in 1995 by American anthropologist Johan Reinhard. The mummy was located at an altitude of 6,000 meters above sea level on the snow-covered Ampato volcano in southern Peru.
“I thought I would never know what her face looked like when she was alive,” he said. “Now, 28 years later, thanks to the research team’s restoration, the true nature of the mummy has been revealed.”
“It took about 400 hours to create the facial model,” Oskar Nielsen, a Swedish archaeologist and sculptor who specializes in reconstructing ancient human faces, said in an email to The Associated Press.
Dagmara Socha, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw in Poland who participated in the restoration work, said in a statement, “The first step in reconstructing the mummy’s face was a replica of the skull,” adding, “Afterwards, body scans, DNA studies, ethnographic characteristics, and age were taken into consideration.” “It was reconstructed,” he explained.
According to the research team’s anthropological analysis, the mummy was believed to have been sacrificed between 1440 and 1450, when she was between 13 and 15 years old. He was 1.4 m tall, weighed 35 kg, and was in good health.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, a CT scan showed that the cause of death was a severe blow to the right occipital lobe.
Reinhard, who discovered more than 14 Inca mummies high in the Andes Mountains, including the newly restored mummy, said, “Through these discoveries, we were able to better understand Inca culture,” and added, “The objects found with the mummies allowed scientists to “We are researching the diet they would have eaten during their lifetime as well as their daily lives,” he said.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.