Note:
I am indebted to Johan Reinhard, anthropologist and author of The
Ice Maiden: Inca Mummies, Mountain Gods, and Sacred Sites in the Andes and
Inca Ice Maiden
for his guidance in revising this page.
| Background of the accidental mummy |
Juanita (also known as "The Ice
Maiden") was discovered on the top of Mount Ampato near Arequipa, Peru, on
September 8, 1995 by
Johan Reinhard and his assistant, Miguel Zarate. She was 12 to 14 years old when she was sacrificed and is believed to have
died about 500 years ago.
Although she was frozen in the frigid
temperatures on Mount Ampato, her body was discovered because a nearby volcano had caused
Ampato's snowcap to melt. Her burial site, which had collapsed and cascaded down
the mountain slope, also revealed many items left as
offerings to the gods. Two other children's bodies were discovered on Ampato
during a second expedition in October 1995. Another mummy was found on a
subsequent expedition in November 1997; it was buried approximately a mile from
the site of Juanita's discovery.
1. She was
very well-preserved when she was discovered. At the time, she was the best
preserved of
all Inca mummies found in the Andes.
[Although some concerns about her
preservation have been raised over the years, her body is still in good
condition. One concern was raised in August 2006, when a tourist (who was actually a scientist at the Smithsonian Institute)
suspected a problem with the humidity control in Juanita's display case. He did
not realize, however, that her body was being sprayed with purified water to
help preserve it and maintain an atmosphere of 90% relative humidity. Still, his
unfounded concern was reported to the press as if a problem existed. Another
concern was raised by Hilda Vidal of the National Museum of Archaeology,
Anthropology, and History in Lima, shortly before Juanita was scheduled to go to
Japan. According to Vidal, Juanita's skin had begun to turn color: from her
natural beige shade to a darker brown, a sign of trouble. (A similar problem was noted with
Ötzi the Ice Man, whose skin quickly molded over when exposed to bright lights and poor
storage conditions; rigorous controls were instituted to reverse the damage.)
Nonetheless, no damage to the mummy's skin or coloration was ever noted beyond
this one report in 1999.]
2. She has made two
trips outside Peru: a visit to the United States in 1996 and a multi-city
13-month tour of Japan in 1999. In the US, Juanita received an advanced CT-scan
before she was exhibited at the National Geographic Society. During her
month-long display, her special storage chamber (newly built by the Carrier
Corporation) was monitored to make sure that her body would be well-preserved.
3. In 1996
President Clinton saw a photo of Juanita and reportedly said, "If I were a single man, I
might ask that mummy out. That's a good-looking mummy!" According to the Associated
Press, Peruvian scientists at the time called his remark "tasteless."
4. Her removal from
Ampato to a museum in Arequipa caused quite a controversy locally. The mayor of
Cabanaconde, the Peruvian
village located near the site of Juanita's discovery, demanded the return of her
mummy. "They charge admission at all the museums to see her," Mayor Antonio
Jiminez told reporters, "but we have not seen a penny of the profits, even though she
is out ancestor. If the mummy were here, we might get some tourists." The problem,
according to the Associated Press, is that Cabanaconde does not have the necessary
facilities for the continued preservation of Juanita. Scientists would also need a special
laboratory to conduct further testing on the mummy; Cabanaconde lacks this resource as
well.
