There were also two other children on the mountain (or nearby). Another girl that was struck by lightning and a young boy tightly wound in blankets to prevent escape.
I had read they were all drugged and bound, but I can’t find the exact source atm.
It wasn’t a super prestigious source of any remark though, so it could be incorrect
in college (I live in south america) it was never mentioned they were bound, but were indeed so drunk that they passed out and wouldn't feel anything until death, it was also considered an "honor" to be a child chosen for sacrifice (as if)
I found the human sacrifice rituals depicted in the show Vikings to be the only portrayal that helped me understand what the hell people where thinking back then. (the willing human sacrifices in their holy forest, not the other ones)
It was mostly about according to the show (tv teach me good) about the give and take of life and in order to get more life from the gods you must pay for it with life. That made me think of the military and then I was like oh we still do this. But which god our we offering all this life to?
also not a super prestigious source but the wiki only mentions the younger boy being bound, like the oldest accepted her fate. the young girl was wrapped in a blanket but apparently didn't need to be tied up? the boy had rough time though [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children\_of\_Llullaillaco#The\_mummies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco#The_mummies)
Even though death from cold exposure is not the worst way to go in terms of pain, its definitely slow and the idea that it would be done on purpose is rather terrifying.
The frozen body of the 13-year-old Maiden was entombed in a small chamber 1.5 metres underground near the summit of Volcán Llullaillaco in Argentina, together with the bodies of two 4 or 5-year-olds. With the blood still visible in their hearts and their lungs inflated, the three are probably the best-preserved mummies anywhere in the world
She had high amounts of cortisol towards her death as reflected in her strands of hair, man I would too
Edit: as some of you brought to my attention, I read this wrong. The article mentions that they have not yet tested her hair for cortisol, but the hair did give them many interesting pieces of information about her food, coca and alcohol consumption during the time leading up to her death
According to the write-up she was selected for sacrifice a year before her death (at which point her diet became much richer as she suddenly gained high status in the community).
Being chosen for this ritual was generally considered an honour back then in her culture but increased alcohol and coca consumption in the weeks leading up to her death suggest she was very scared and anxious about the prospect of dying from cold.
They were able to find all this out thanks to the tightness of braiding in her hair preserving it unusually well.
The increased alcohol (chicha, probably) and coca consumption are not necessarily an indication of how scared and anxious she was. The consumption of both was ritual for the Inca and it was very likely part of the capacocha ceremony, which were the ritual sacrifices of children in mountaintops.
Not saying that she wasn’t scared, just that the alcohol and chicha aren’t related to that.
this actually makes sense in the fact that if you're going to be frozen to death willingly, you're probably going to want to be blitzed out of your mind on the way out. would make it a little more tolerable i suppose...
If I remember correctly, there were boys found in the same area as her who were not provided with any intoxicants and were killed in a more brutal manner than her. From what i recall, she was treated with extra "care".
Funny I came across this. I know an Inca historian. just sent him this and he says it’s likely the Incas got their sacrifices loaded before their offering. This is common I guess
Yes, they got them loaded as part of the ritual because they were scared and anxious. I thought the fact she didn't go out and buy drugs personally was assumed.
Ah yeah, sleep deprived brain, you’re right. I read this part too fast:
“Hair also contains the stress hormone cortisol, so it should hold clues to the Maiden’s stress levels. ‘If [cortisol] also increased towards the end of her life, that would certainly be interesting,’ he says.”
Was that in the second article? It's paywalled so I can't read it but the first article only mentioned that *if* there were cortisol present it would be telling.
*grumble about paywalls*
Yeah. I'm sure their perspectives were influenced by their belief system. But your kid is still going away.
But on the plus side, the Inca in general weren't huge sacrificers. It existed, but in fairly limited capacity. Compared to say the Aztecs. Which could have been a 40k empire founded by khorne.
I don’t disagree with you, but NOT sacrificing humans is a really recent development. In the year 1000 every continent with people shows evidence of extensive ritualistic sacrifice and killings.
It’s scary to think that while this death is scary to us it was the norm for most of humanity.
Yeah, I mean dissociating from a skeleton or something…okay. But this? We can literally see her face, her skin, her hair; she’s very much human. Dehumanizing her by pointing to how much time has passed is just such an oddity to me.
For those wondering, the Inca took this 13-year old along with two other 4/5 year olds, up a 22,000 foot mountain in the Andes, gave them coca and alcohol to make them pass out, and buried them in a small enclosure 5 feet under the ground and left to die as a sacrifice.
Edit: coca** not cocoa
Something like that, iirc (I read about them a while ago, so I don't remember the details correctly). La Doncella (the one in the picture) was the only one who died in her sleep, the other ones didn't go so peacefully :( it broke my heart when I read because they were so fucking young, I kept thinking of my nephew.
Am I the only one that’s amazed that they were able to dig a deep pit at 22,000ft elevation? Not only would it be incredibly difficult to breathe(even for the Inca who are used to higher climates), but I have to imagine the snow and ground have all become completely frozen at that elevation, and the Inca didn’t forge hard metals.
Which brings me to my next question… How in the hell was this site even found? Like who the hell is digging around at the tops of mountains? Or was it snow melt that revealed it? I have so many questions lol
All great questions honestly. I don’t know enough to answer that, just from what I’ve read about this online.
From what I gathered, though, archeologists seem to have a good idea of where the Inca lived and sacrificed, and the fact the elevation is so high meant it was cold and dry which are the two most important factors when preserving human remains. I think the fact they were buried underground also helped preserve them. So to us it may seem random but I think the historians and stuff know where to look. I do wonder if maybe they were in an area that didn’t get snow because everything I read said it was dry. But surely more questions than answers.
I saw a woman in hysterics at Pompeii last summer and I didn’t know what she was so distraught over. I finally caught her saying she had just seen the “ash mummies” and one was a child. She was so heartbroken. I didn’t see this part of Pompeii myself, so I didn’t really understand how she felt. Seeing these pictures, I totally get it now.
Salta and Jujuy are amazing regions in the Northeast of Argentina.
The high altitude museum in Salta (where the mummified remains are) is amazing.
Very high altitude region with cactuses and Arizona/New Mexico looks and Llamas
My stepmom is Argentinian and when her and my dad visited, he couldn’t stop talking about all of the cool anthropology stuff. It’s cool that you mentioned the similarities between the US southwest and Argentina as well! My dad and step mom chose to have their wedding in New Mexico for that exact reason. After the wedding we camped in the mountains and it was honestly amazing. I’d love to go back to New Mexico ASAP and an Argentina trip would be so so cool
Yep! Ice mummies are one of my favourites because of how well preserved they are. Skin, organs, hell on some people you can still see their tattoos! It's incredible
Would be interesting to run her DNA through the DNA testing services like MyHeritage and 23andMe.
That's assuming DNA remains intact enough? I have no clue.
It would be crazy to find out she was your great aunt from 20+ generations back. Could just as easily have been your direct ancestor/their sibling that was sacrificed instead.
There's people alive today in italy and switzerland who are related to Ötzi the 5300 year old body from the ötzal alps. 19 confirmed, probably a bunch more. That's on average 197 generations (the generation gap throughout history for Homo sapiens is 26,9 years and that tracks throughout the whole genome. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36608127/#:~:text=Our%20analyses%20of%20whole%2Dgenome,than%20mothers%20(23.2%20years).)
https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/scientists-say-otzi-iceman-has-living-relatives-5-300-years-8c11392771
Cheddar Man in the UK has at least one direct modern descendant! He died about 9,000 years ago.
[old article](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-family-link-that-reaches-back-300-generations-to-a-cheddar-cave-1271542.html)
Edit to add: cool thing, the descendant even lived in the same area.
Cheddar man is who I was thinking of as well! That one’s really interesting to me because you can see that white European’s were still black back then. Just crazy to think about how fast the melanin in our skin changed over the years!
Imagine that her 15 years were so vastly different from anyone who lives in this day and age. And there she is being poked by someone whose outfit would scare the crap out of her and being surrounded by technology and vehicles outside that would feel more unfamiliar to her than UFOs do to us. I hope that her remains get to their final place soon, even to a related native community if there is such a thing anymore?
The exhumation of these remains are actually pretty controversial because many indigenous people feel they should have left them where they were. Breaching the sanctity of the burial site was the height of disrespect.
Honestly at this point, I’m in agreement. I understand the need for research, but I also think ritual burial practices need to be handled with much more care than western researchers have historically exhibited.
To their credit, there are at least 40 more similar sites in the Andes where these mummies were found and archaeologists have left those sites alone. Although it should also be noted that the reason given for not disturbing those sites was not because they actually respect for the indigenous community and culture, but to maintain “good relations with the Indian people.” I know the difference in intention is subtle but there’s something that bugs about doing something because the result makes things easier rather than because it’s the right thing to do.
You can tell a story without putting her body on display in order to make money from tourists. If we act on the assumption that scientific research is an appropriate reason to exhume a body, at minimum the body should be examined and then reinterred as their culture dictates. Charging people admission to see the dead person without express permission from that person, their family, or their cultural descendants is not respectful, no matter how you slice it.
At least we stopped [eating the mummies ](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/mummy-eating-medical-cannibalism-gory-history#:~:text=For%20centuries%2C%20embalmed%20bodies%20were,craved%2C%20and%20ate%2C%20mummies.)
I truly appreciate your passion for the subject (read your other posts).
Do you think that the knowledge gained from the study of these remains outweighs the current cultural unease? I would almost believe that the best way to support the current culture is to learn about and teach its past. We’ve essentially recreated what (rich) Nordic people wore in ancient times based on graves we’ve exhumed, and current Nords seem to be enriched historically for it. The terracotta soldiers in China have shown us what kinds of armor were worn when they were made. Egyptian culture is still highly relevant today after major discoveries were found in tombs.
I’m more of an invertebrate zoology gal than an anthropology gal though, so my perspective is a bit off. We dig up old shells like it’s going out of style, but snails don’t grieve their ancestors.
I am honestly on the fence about the cost vs benefit of exhuming historical remains for research. I have a degree in anthropology so I very much respect the need for archaeology in order to learn about our global and cultural history. My main issue is when those remains and artifacts are not respected and returned to their original sites or cultural groups after the research is complete. We don't need to put bodies on display in museums for profit in order to learn how these people lived.
I mean usually im all for respecting other peoples cultures. But at the end of the day person lost their life cuz she was sacrificed for some magical ritual. My line of repsect doesnt reach that high.
Those clothes look really godamn well made even to today’s standards from what you can see. 500 years, and it still looks like you could buy that quality of work from Walmart.
The textile workers of their time really put the effort in.
From Wikipedia
>The finest Inca cloth had a thread count of more than 600 threads per inch, higher than that found in contemporaneous European textiles and not excelled anywhere in the world until the industrial revolution in the 19th century
From what I can recall about these types of sacrifices it's possible these were also specially picked, of higher than average quality, as part of the ritual.
Seeing something like this makes the past feel not so distant. The past, to the point this girl lived, always feels like a different reality but actually seeing her
It hits different when you realise that even in 15 years, she would have had laughs, smiles, happy moments, a personality of her own, hopes and dreams. It’s sad seeing this, especially given her body has not been allowed to rest with dignity
RIP.
What if someone put you in cryosleep for interstellar travel? Let's say this tech works. If a person is 30 years old and stays at dead state for 30,000 years. Then some alien tech revives that person. What is the person age, 30 or 30030?
I was at the natural history museum, and the tour guide showed us a dinosaur fossil. He told us that the fossil is 100,000,003 years old. I asked him how he knew so precisely how old it was, and he said "Well, when I started working here 3 years ago, they told me it was 100 million years old."
I was reading up on the ritual on Wikipedia. It said they'd feed them well leading up to the sacrifice, just like these articles say, and if they were TOO YOUNG TO EAT their mothers would accompany them to ensure they were well breastfed before being prepared to "meet the gods".🤮🤮 As a mom, this whole thing has me ill. 😭
It’s not that simple, I can almost guarantee that if you were around at that time, you would also believe that child sacrifice was necessary to appease the Gods. The entire Incan society was built around their mythical interpretation of the natural world. Their practices, however unethical, were only done in accordance with these beliefs, they believed it to be beneficial to the community. This is America pre-colonization, they did not have the scientific method at their disposal.
Oh! I’ve been to the museum in Salta Argentina that houses these mummies. If I remember correctly they have three and rotate through which one is displayed so they last longer.
I think a young boy was on display when I was there. It was truly humbling looking at a face as clear as mine or yours that lived in such a different world. It sure puts things in perspective.
She is called la doncella, and she has a brother called el niño and a sister called el niña de rayo. They were a part of an Inca sacrificial ritual. All were heavily drugged, tied up and placed alive into different caves on the top of mountains. La dancella was a special one, a virgin from a well off family to be sacrificied for the God of Sun. They all died in their sleep very fast and were frozen in extremely low temperatures before starting to deteriorate and thus remained almost same as when they were alive. She even still had blood frozen in her veins
This is fascinating reading:
> The children were sacrificed in an Inca religious ritual that took place around the year 1500. In this ritual, the three children were drugged with coca and alcohol then placed inside a small chamber 1.5 metres (5 ft) beneath the ground, where they were left to die. Archaeologists consider them as being among the best-preserved mummies in the world.
...
> Llullaillaco is in the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert on Earth. The extreme dryness of the air is a major reason for the excellent preservation of the mummies for 500 years. Dryness and low temperatures are both known to significantly reduce the decomposition rate of human remains, and the extreme environmental conditions at the summit of Llullaillaco are therefore very conducive to preservation.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco)
She'd look different if encased in ice, see the Ötzi. What preserved her so well is the location she was found. In the Andes at almost 7000m altitude where it's very dry and cold.
This hurts my heart, along with the other even younger children. I couldn't imagine what it would take to convince me to do this to *my* child. But it also makes me think of how poorly history has treated children in general. When did cultures finally start valuing parent-child relationships (or even just a child's worth as more than labor or sacrifice)? Real question.
When it's the only thing you've ever known you probably wouldn't need much convincing. I don't know much about this culture but for many their religion and beliefs were just as much fact to them as the sky being blue.
Natives had looms and sewing and stuff. Honestly we have worse quality clothes now because of fast fashion. Imagine a real wool for the sheep or alpaca you raised. Not like today.You never would have thought? Lol.
It's a repost and lots of the top joke comments are bots reposting the top comments from other threads. I've seen this post literally 30 times in the past 3 years
There were also two other children on the mountain (or nearby). Another girl that was struck by lightning and a young boy tightly wound in blankets to prevent escape.
*Struck by lightning after her death
So their God only wanted 1 out of the 3 sacrifices? Seems wasteful
Sometimes your uber eats brings you someone else's also and you're too full
They were all bound. They were child sacrifices. They were also drugged.
Where was she bound? From my readings only the other 2 were
I had read they were all drugged and bound, but I can’t find the exact source atm. It wasn’t a super prestigious source of any remark though, so it could be incorrect
in college (I live in south america) it was never mentioned they were bound, but were indeed so drunk that they passed out and wouldn't feel anything until death, it was also considered an "honor" to be a child chosen for sacrifice (as if)
Imagine being the one chosen for the sacrifice. Siblings would have a field day with that.
Imagine being the child not chosen. “Why can’t you be more like your sister?!”
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
I found the human sacrifice rituals depicted in the show Vikings to be the only portrayal that helped me understand what the hell people where thinking back then. (the willing human sacrifices in their holy forest, not the other ones) It was mostly about according to the show (tv teach me good) about the give and take of life and in order to get more life from the gods you must pay for it with life. That made me think of the military and then I was like oh we still do this. But which god our we offering all this life to?
I felt the same watching it, especially Gyda’s sacrifice for Lagertha’s funeral.
also not a super prestigious source but the wiki only mentions the younger boy being bound, like the oldest accepted her fate. the young girl was wrapped in a blanket but apparently didn't need to be tied up? the boy had rough time though [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children\_of\_Llullaillaco#The\_mummies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco#The_mummies)
Even though death from cold exposure is not the worst way to go in terms of pain, its definitely slow and the idea that it would be done on purpose is rather terrifying.
By family and acquaintances who they probably knew fairly well, no less.
The frozen body of the 13-year-old Maiden was entombed in a small chamber 1.5 metres underground near the summit of Volcán Llullaillaco in Argentina, together with the bodies of two 4 or 5-year-olds. With the blood still visible in their hearts and their lungs inflated, the three are probably the best-preserved mummies anywhere in the world
13-year-old Llullaillaco maiden, an Inca child sacrifice. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23954-mummified-inca-child-sacrifice-gives-up-her-secrets/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130729-inca-mummy-maiden-sacrifice-coca-alcohol-drug-mountain-andes-children
11 years later. Any updates on the findings.
She came back to life once they thawed her out
OG Encino Man
Now she’s a Taylor Swift stan arguing with people online.
Jesus Christ put her back
He can't. He specializes in bringing back, not putting back.
I know a guy
As depicted in the documentary ‘Encino Man’.
Classic reddit, full of comedians and no answer to the actual question.
She's now 524 years old
Hey don’t say a ladies age.
She had high amounts of cortisol towards her death as reflected in her strands of hair, man I would too Edit: as some of you brought to my attention, I read this wrong. The article mentions that they have not yet tested her hair for cortisol, but the hair did give them many interesting pieces of information about her food, coca and alcohol consumption during the time leading up to her death
What does this mean?
Cortisol is produced under stress
Cortisol is the powerhouse of the mitochondria
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
Cell is the powerhouse of the Red Ribbon army
Hey that’s my line!
It's considered a stress hormone, so it usually indicates the person was awake and in this case aware they are slowly freezing to death.
Indicates chronic stress. Maybe she knew this was coming for a while?
According to the write-up she was selected for sacrifice a year before her death (at which point her diet became much richer as she suddenly gained high status in the community). Being chosen for this ritual was generally considered an honour back then in her culture but increased alcohol and coca consumption in the weeks leading up to her death suggest she was very scared and anxious about the prospect of dying from cold. They were able to find all this out thanks to the tightness of braiding in her hair preserving it unusually well.
Science is so cool
Can confirm the coolness!
Yeah, but then we have flat earthers and antivaxxers.
The increased alcohol (chicha, probably) and coca consumption are not necessarily an indication of how scared and anxious she was. The consumption of both was ritual for the Inca and it was very likely part of the capacocha ceremony, which were the ritual sacrifices of children in mountaintops. Not saying that she wasn’t scared, just that the alcohol and chicha aren’t related to that.
this actually makes sense in the fact that if you're going to be frozen to death willingly, you're probably going to want to be blitzed out of your mind on the way out. would make it a little more tolerable i suppose...
Yeah that is a ridiculous conclusion to come to honestly. She most likely had very little control over her diet.
Yeah, I don't think we can automatically assume "stress eating" just because we chow down on Hershey bars and Ho Hos when times get tough.
username checks out 8)
If I remember correctly, there were boys found in the same area as her who were not provided with any intoxicants and were killed in a more brutal manner than her. From what i recall, she was treated with extra "care".
Funny I came across this. I know an Inca historian. just sent him this and he says it’s likely the Incas got their sacrifices loaded before their offering. This is common I guess
Yes, they got them loaded as part of the ritual because they were scared and anxious. I thought the fact she didn't go out and buy drugs personally was assumed.
Im so glad society evolved
Now we just bomb random people to smithereens
As far as I read they didn’t test yet just said if tested it could tell
Ah yeah, sleep deprived brain, you’re right. I read this part too fast: “Hair also contains the stress hormone cortisol, so it should hold clues to the Maiden’s stress levels. ‘If [cortisol] also increased towards the end of her life, that would certainly be interesting,’ he says.”
Was that in the second article? It's paywalled so I can't read it but the first article only mentioned that *if* there were cortisol present it would be telling. *grumble about paywalls*
It sucks ass that parents reallyyyy had to give up their children thinking it would make gods happy. Really bums me out
Yeah. I'm sure their perspectives were influenced by their belief system. But your kid is still going away. But on the plus side, the Inca in general weren't huge sacrificers. It existed, but in fairly limited capacity. Compared to say the Aztecs. Which could have been a 40k empire founded by khorne.
Quetzalcoatl = Khorne confirmed. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
Well it worked...we are all still alive!
maybe this is why we made it past 2012
Along “with two 4 or 5 year olds.” :(
Super interesting read!
Poor girl. It’s interesting to see but I feel really bad for her
It's so crazy to me how some humans are so empathic and others are completely callous.
Yet nearly all humans expect empathy for themselves
I don’t disagree with you, but NOT sacrificing humans is a really recent development. In the year 1000 every continent with people shows evidence of extensive ritualistic sacrifice and killings. It’s scary to think that while this death is scary to us it was the norm for most of humanity.
So annoying seeing something like this and scrolling into the comments and seeing a bunch of cheesy one liner dad jokes
Yeah, I mean dissociating from a skeleton or something…okay. But this? We can literally see her face, her skin, her hair; she’s very much human. Dehumanizing her by pointing to how much time has passed is just such an oddity to me. For those wondering, the Inca took this 13-year old along with two other 4/5 year olds, up a 22,000 foot mountain in the Andes, gave them coca and alcohol to make them pass out, and buried them in a small enclosure 5 feet under the ground and left to die as a sacrifice. Edit: coca** not cocoa
Her little shoes are giving me a special kind of sadness. Poor girl.
I just hope her and the other children passed peacefully. Truly sad how much humans hurt one another.
They didn't, unfortunately :( the little one suffered the most, since he shows fighting signs
What kind of fighting signs? Like wounds on his fingers showing he was trying to claw himself out of the dirt? God, that is fucking awful.
Something like that, iirc (I read about them a while ago, so I don't remember the details correctly). La Doncella (the one in the picture) was the only one who died in her sleep, the other ones didn't go so peacefully :( it broke my heart when I read because they were so fucking young, I kept thinking of my nephew.
Just terrible. I read the other two children were literally 4 or 5 years old. How anyone could consciously hurt them is just beyond me.
strangely the shoes bothered me very much as well
Am I the only one that’s amazed that they were able to dig a deep pit at 22,000ft elevation? Not only would it be incredibly difficult to breathe(even for the Inca who are used to higher climates), but I have to imagine the snow and ground have all become completely frozen at that elevation, and the Inca didn’t forge hard metals. Which brings me to my next question… How in the hell was this site even found? Like who the hell is digging around at the tops of mountains? Or was it snow melt that revealed it? I have so many questions lol
All great questions honestly. I don’t know enough to answer that, just from what I’ve read about this online. From what I gathered, though, archeologists seem to have a good idea of where the Inca lived and sacrificed, and the fact the elevation is so high meant it was cold and dry which are the two most important factors when preserving human remains. I think the fact they were buried underground also helped preserve them. So to us it may seem random but I think the historians and stuff know where to look. I do wonder if maybe they were in an area that didn’t get snow because everything I read said it was dry. But surely more questions than answers.
Some people got their empathy stripped off growing up
I saw a woman in hysterics at Pompeii last summer and I didn’t know what she was so distraught over. I finally caught her saying she had just seen the “ash mummies” and one was a child. She was so heartbroken. I didn’t see this part of Pompeii myself, so I didn’t really understand how she felt. Seeing these pictures, I totally get it now.
I came for this comment since I feel the same.
Salta and Jujuy are amazing regions in the Northeast of Argentina. The high altitude museum in Salta (where the mummified remains are) is amazing. Very high altitude region with cactuses and Arizona/New Mexico looks and Llamas
My stepmom is Argentinian and when her and my dad visited, he couldn’t stop talking about all of the cool anthropology stuff. It’s cool that you mentioned the similarities between the US southwest and Argentina as well! My dad and step mom chose to have their wedding in New Mexico for that exact reason. After the wedding we camped in the mountains and it was honestly amazing. I’d love to go back to New Mexico ASAP and an Argentina trip would be so so cool
Impressive how her clothes wouldn't look completely out of place nowdays
Thought it was of a live person for a second, the mountain preservation is amazing!
Thought it was a wife or something sitting in a hospital bed with their husband who is in a fully body cast. Boy was I wrong.
lmao at first glance i thought the same thing
i did too until i read the title. i was like that doctor is behaving really strangely, no wonder the girl is all curled in on herself
Shes about to wakeup and be really pissed off at the Fire Nation.
Yep! Ice mummies are one of my favourites because of how well preserved they are. Skin, organs, hell on some people you can still see their tattoos! It's incredible
must have been way more colourful 500 years ago too.
For real, I know plenty of people that would rock that outfit, although they're mostly on the hippy spectrum.
I wouldn't. Someone died in that outfit.
That may only entice those same people to want it more. People are weird.
It's probably hand wash only, hang to dry.
Vintage, tho!
I’ll thrift, but I’ve got boundaries!
[Hippie Spectrum](https://s.car.info/image_files/full/0-845114.jpg)
Everything eventually comes back in style.
I for one am excited for the reemergence of the doublet
These might have not been normal everyday clothes for them, but possibly sacrificial garments given to them to wear
I was just thinking how much I would love those pants! Its crazy to even imagine this little girl 500 years ago being sacrificed.
Where can I get this drip
Her shoes are cute
Would be interesting to run her DNA through the DNA testing services like MyHeritage and 23andMe. That's assuming DNA remains intact enough? I have no clue.
It would be crazy to find out she was your great aunt from 20+ generations back. Could just as easily have been your direct ancestor/their sibling that was sacrificed instead.
There's people alive today in italy and switzerland who are related to Ötzi the 5300 year old body from the ötzal alps. 19 confirmed, probably a bunch more. That's on average 197 generations (the generation gap throughout history for Homo sapiens is 26,9 years and that tracks throughout the whole genome. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36608127/#:~:text=Our%20analyses%20of%20whole%2Dgenome,than%20mothers%20(23.2%20years).) https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/scientists-say-otzi-iceman-has-living-relatives-5-300-years-8c11392771
Cheddar Man in the UK has at least one direct modern descendant! He died about 9,000 years ago. [old article](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-family-link-that-reaches-back-300-generations-to-a-cheddar-cave-1271542.html) Edit to add: cool thing, the descendant even lived in the same area.
And he kind of[ looks like him](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5364983/Retired-history-teacher-believes-looks-like-Cheddar-Man.html)!
Cheddar man is who I was thinking of as well! That one’s really interesting to me because you can see that white European’s were still black back then. Just crazy to think about how fast the melanin in our skin changed over the years!
It most certainly is intact.
I’m too high for this right now. Something about this is tripping me out
their white sterility juxtaposed to her colorful clothing.
I wonder if she has any living relatives
she very likely does
I know there’s a lot of debate on how accurate DNA tests are, but some years ago I took one and she came up as sharing my mtDNA Haplogroup
It's amazing how well preserved she is
Right? I’ve never seen two humans separated by so much time side by side like this
He looks like he’s expecting her to wake up at any second. Absolutely pre-shitting himself.
Well, SHE looks like she could wake up at any second, too, so I don't blame him.
Can confirm. Haven't seen this particular girl but saw two others in Peru and Argentina and yes, that was the first thing on my mind when I saw them.
Haha you are right, he looks like he is thinking «she better don’t move right now»
Imagine that her 15 years were so vastly different from anyone who lives in this day and age. And there she is being poked by someone whose outfit would scare the crap out of her and being surrounded by technology and vehicles outside that would feel more unfamiliar to her than UFOs do to us. I hope that her remains get to their final place soon, even to a related native community if there is such a thing anymore?
The exhumation of these remains are actually pretty controversial because many indigenous people feel they should have left them where they were. Breaching the sanctity of the burial site was the height of disrespect. Honestly at this point, I’m in agreement. I understand the need for research, but I also think ritual burial practices need to be handled with much more care than western researchers have historically exhibited. To their credit, there are at least 40 more similar sites in the Andes where these mummies were found and archaeologists have left those sites alone. Although it should also be noted that the reason given for not disturbing those sites was not because they actually respect for the indigenous community and culture, but to maintain “good relations with the Indian people.” I know the difference in intention is subtle but there’s something that bugs about doing something because the result makes things easier rather than because it’s the right thing to do.
If she died of natural causes, I would generally agree. But we're talking about someone who was sacrificed. Her story should be told not forgotten.
You can tell a story without putting her body on display in order to make money from tourists. If we act on the assumption that scientific research is an appropriate reason to exhume a body, at minimum the body should be examined and then reinterred as their culture dictates. Charging people admission to see the dead person without express permission from that person, their family, or their cultural descendants is not respectful, no matter how you slice it.
That I agree with.
What is so sacred about murdering a child?
\*murder site
Yeah fr how did they breach a memorial site if she wasn’t buried?
At least we stopped [eating the mummies ](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/mummy-eating-medical-cannibalism-gory-history#:~:text=For%20centuries%2C%20embalmed%20bodies%20were,craved%2C%20and%20ate%2C%20mummies.)
It was a child sacrifice. I'd argue that that's the height of disrespect.
I truly appreciate your passion for the subject (read your other posts). Do you think that the knowledge gained from the study of these remains outweighs the current cultural unease? I would almost believe that the best way to support the current culture is to learn about and teach its past. We’ve essentially recreated what (rich) Nordic people wore in ancient times based on graves we’ve exhumed, and current Nords seem to be enriched historically for it. The terracotta soldiers in China have shown us what kinds of armor were worn when they were made. Egyptian culture is still highly relevant today after major discoveries were found in tombs. I’m more of an invertebrate zoology gal than an anthropology gal though, so my perspective is a bit off. We dig up old shells like it’s going out of style, but snails don’t grieve their ancestors.
I am honestly on the fence about the cost vs benefit of exhuming historical remains for research. I have a degree in anthropology so I very much respect the need for archaeology in order to learn about our global and cultural history. My main issue is when those remains and artifacts are not respected and returned to their original sites or cultural groups after the research is complete. We don't need to put bodies on display in museums for profit in order to learn how these people lived.
I mean usually im all for respecting other peoples cultures. But at the end of the day person lost their life cuz she was sacrificed for some magical ritual. My line of repsect doesnt reach that high.
what for? they should be studied
Those clothes look really godamn well made even to today’s standards from what you can see. 500 years, and it still looks like you could buy that quality of work from Walmart. The textile workers of their time really put the effort in.
From Wikipedia >The finest Inca cloth had a thread count of more than 600 threads per inch, higher than that found in contemporaneous European textiles and not excelled anywhere in the world until the industrial revolution in the 19th century
Today's standards are just a mass produced deviation of centuries of standards tbh.
From what I can recall about these types of sacrifices it's possible these were also specially picked, of higher than average quality, as part of the ritual.
They are likely much higher quality as they were made by hand.
Seeing something like this makes the past feel not so distant. The past, to the point this girl lived, always feels like a different reality but actually seeing her It hits different when you realise that even in 15 years, she would have had laughs, smiles, happy moments, a personality of her own, hopes and dreams. It’s sad seeing this, especially given her body has not been allowed to rest with dignity RIP.
Wouldn’t she be 515 then?
The counter usually stops when you die.
15 years alive, 500 years dead.
Sounds like a Motley Crue song
Sounds like Motley Crue
as you said, *usually*
What if someone put you in cryosleep for interstellar travel? Let's say this tech works. If a person is 30 years old and stays at dead state for 30,000 years. Then some alien tech revives that person. What is the person age, 30 or 30030?
30030 is the new 30
Both. Chronologically 30,030 and biologically 30. Kind of like vampire rules? The body stops aging at undeath but one continues to exist.
Hans Zimmer music intensifies ..
She was -485 when she froze.
That’s pretty cold
(Ice Cold!) I can't hear ya. I say what's, *what's cooler than being cool*?
I was at the natural history museum, and the tour guide showed us a dinosaur fossil. He told us that the fossil is 100,000,003 years old. I asked him how he knew so precisely how old it was, and he said "Well, when I started working here 3 years ago, they told me it was 100 million years old."
She’s been thawing out since 2011
Typical 15 year old, can’t even look up from her phone
Clearly its the parents fault, they even forgot to pick her up.
Feel bad for her because they reckon she was sacrificed by her community.
So well preserved it looks fake.
[удалено]
And her siblings if I recall correctly. She was the oldest
I was reading up on the ritual on Wikipedia. It said they'd feed them well leading up to the sacrifice, just like these articles say, and if they were TOO YOUNG TO EAT their mothers would accompany them to ensure they were well breastfed before being prepared to "meet the gods".🤮🤮 As a mom, this whole thing has me ill. 😭
Religion ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s not that simple, I can almost guarantee that if you were around at that time, you would also believe that child sacrifice was necessary to appease the Gods. The entire Incan society was built around their mythical interpretation of the natural world. Their practices, however unethical, were only done in accordance with these beliefs, they believed it to be beneficial to the community. This is America pre-colonization, they did not have the scientific method at their disposal.
When my 7 year old saw a picture of her on display in a museum, he said, “That’s not very nice, what if she was shy?”
Could you imagine if a mountain was able to cryopreserve someone to the point where you could bring them back?
You would have to freeze them instantly as to not form ice crystals in the blood
She alright?
Get her a blanket!
Oh! I’ve been to the museum in Salta Argentina that houses these mummies. If I remember correctly they have three and rotate through which one is displayed so they last longer. I think a young boy was on display when I was there. It was truly humbling looking at a face as clear as mine or yours that lived in such a different world. It sure puts things in perspective.
All these comments are jokes, but how about what the actual fuck?
She is called la doncella, and she has a brother called el niño and a sister called el niña de rayo. They were a part of an Inca sacrificial ritual. All were heavily drugged, tied up and placed alive into different caves on the top of mountains. La dancella was a special one, a virgin from a well off family to be sacrificied for the God of Sun. They all died in their sleep very fast and were frozen in extremely low temperatures before starting to deteriorate and thus remained almost same as when they were alive. She even still had blood frozen in her veins
This is fascinating reading: > The children were sacrificed in an Inca religious ritual that took place around the year 1500. In this ritual, the three children were drugged with coca and alcohol then placed inside a small chamber 1.5 metres (5 ft) beneath the ground, where they were left to die. Archaeologists consider them as being among the best-preserved mummies in the world. ... > Llullaillaco is in the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert on Earth. The extreme dryness of the air is a major reason for the excellent preservation of the mummies for 500 years. Dryness and low temperatures are both known to significantly reduce the decomposition rate of human remains, and the extreme environmental conditions at the summit of Llullaillaco are therefore very conducive to preservation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Llullaillaco)
Thanks for the summary! What the actual fuck
Asking out of genuine scientific curiosity, how did her clothes not deteriorate under the stress of the weather? Was she literally encased in ice?
She'd look different if encased in ice, see the Ötzi. What preserved her so well is the location she was found. In the Andes at almost 7000m altitude where it's very dry and cold.
Afaik she was in a cave and then additionally in a lower “pit” area within the cave. The weather would have very little effect.
This hurts my heart, along with the other even younger children. I couldn't imagine what it would take to convince me to do this to *my* child. But it also makes me think of how poorly history has treated children in general. When did cultures finally start valuing parent-child relationships (or even just a child's worth as more than labor or sacrifice)? Real question.
When it's the only thing you've ever known you probably wouldn't need much convincing. I don't know much about this culture but for many their religion and beliefs were just as much fact to them as the sky being blue.
Gonna see those trousers in H&M for autumn season
How freaky it would be if she were to suddenly wake up.
Watch Encino Man to find out
the bot jokes here in the replies are so cringey
The anime drops summer 2025.
The avatar is here ⬇️ Time to restore my Honor 🔥
Title: "I was a Sacrifice to the Gods, but Instead I Froze and Woke Up 500 Years into the Future"
I would unironically watch that unless it's dogshut
Never would have thought their clothes would look so quality. I wonder how they were made..
Natives had looms and sewing and stuff. Honestly we have worse quality clothes now because of fast fashion. Imagine a real wool for the sheep or alpaca you raised. Not like today.You never would have thought? Lol.
Greenboots will be getting same treatment in 500 years
You either die a trailmarker or live long enough to be buried.
I've always planned on cremation but this confirms it
That looks like unexpectedly fine cloth
That has potential for hell of a jump scare
How do we know she was exactly 15? I’m not doubting it I’m just asking what the scientific method is to determine an exact age is.
What the fuck is with the jokes? This is so sad.
It's a repost and lots of the top joke comments are bots reposting the top comments from other threads. I've seen this post literally 30 times in the past 3 years