Weather of Arabia - In a world full of technologies and scientific discoveries, we sometimes find ourselves faced with a historical surprise that is renewed with splendor and excitement, and this is exactly what happened with the mummy of the Inca. That tiny body of a young girl, who lived many centuries ago in the lands of Peru, proved that she was still able to speak. With us.
Thanks to 3D scanning technology and the joint efforts of scientists from Peru and Poland, we were able to reconstruct the face of this mummy with amazing accuracy, and while its eyes stare at us, we find ourselves living a journey through time, revealing to us an overwhelming cultural heritage, its sacrifices and its religious beliefs.
In this article, we will delve into the story of the Inca mummy, and how modern technology was able to give a face to a history buried deep in the ground. We will discover how Inca beliefs were embodied in that small victim, and how technology can touch us with the spirit of history and humanity at the same time.
Five hundred years ago, a teenage girl who was part of the Inca culture was sacrificed and buried near the peak of Ambato, a dormant volcano in the Andes. Since the discovery of her incredibly preserved frozen remains in 1995 , she has become known by many names – “The Ice Maiden” and “Juanita.” " and "Lady Ambato" but little is known about her true identity.
The Inca Empire, which lasted from about 1200 to 1533 , extended 2,500 miles (4,023 km) across what is now Peru and Chile, and Socha said that one of the most important Inca rituals was the capacocha, which involved human sacrifices along with the offering of prestige goods such as ceramics. Precious metals, textiles and seashells.
The researchers said that these rituals were carried out to please the gods and sacred places and protect society from disasters such as drought, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
The peaks of the Andes were considered a sacred place, where sacrificial rituals were performed, choosing beautiful and pure children and young women to perform these rituals. People believed that the sacrifices of these children and young women would bring honor to their parents and guarantee them an afterlife full of bliss.
As the chosen ones to perform these rituals, the children and young women acted as intermediaries between humans and the gods and it is believed that after being sacrificed, they were reunited with their ancestors who were believed to watch from the towering peaks of the Andes.
In September 1995 , Dr. Johan Reinhard and his assistant Miguel Zarate discovered Juanita when they ascended Mount Ambato, which rises 20,708 feet (6,312 m) above sea level. During their journey, they were surprised to find that part of the ridge collapsed, exposing the Inca burial site, and causing the contents to roll down a distance of about 229 feet (70 m) below.
As they found a bundle of cloth and lifted it, they found themselves looking at the face of the frozen girl known as the “ Ice Maiden.” The girl’s body was carefully transported to the bottom of the mountain, where it was kept in the Museum of the Andean Reserves of the Catholic University of Santa Maria. Today, visitors can see this wonderful discovery in the museum.
Studies revealed that the girl, known as Juanita, was between 13 and 15 years old when she died as a result of a blow to the head, and she was in good health before her death.
Now, Swedish artist Oscar Nilsson and a team of researchers from the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw and the Catholic University of Santa Maria have collaborated to reconstruct a 3D reconstruction of Juanita's face.
The reconstruction, unveiled on October 24, is part of an exhibition at the Museum of the Andean Reserves in Peru called “Capacocha, After the Inca Gods.” The exhibition includes the latest research on Juanita and her life, as well as findings from other Inca mummies discovered along the way. Peaks of the Andes Mountains in Peru.
Dr. Dagmara Socha, bioarchaeologist at the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw and curator of the exhibition, said:
“For many years, they are treated with mummies as museum objects. “By doing scientific research and reconstructing the face, we want to restore their identity, and a good reconstruction allows us to show the people who were behind the story we want to tell.
In 2018 , Dagmara Socha and a team of archaeologists began a five-year project to research Juanita and other remains found at the snow-capped volcanoes of Ambato, Misti, and Pichu Picchu.
During the course of the project, the team discovered that some children and women were consuming coca leaves and drinking ayahuasca in the weeks before their deaths, and the findings suggest that hallucinogenic plants and psychostimulants may have been used to reduce anxiety before their deaths.
In March 2022 , the team conducted CT scans of Juanita’s body, and through the results, scientists were able to create a 3D model of her skull. They used CT scans of her body and skull, in addition to analyzing her age and skin characteristics, and others to create digital images. Nelson interpreted tissue depth marks and, based on measurements of her skull, Pictures of her facial proportions, which include high service bones.
The process of bringing Juanita's face back to life took half a year, and Nelson spent 400 hours working on the model. Nelson was famous for his skill in recreating faces from the past, as he relied on reconstruction technology and conducted various scientific analyzes to make Juanita look as realistic as possible.
Nelson said:
“It's a wonderful job to do, but I also feel a great deal of responsibility to make the reconstruction as accurate as possible.” "But it's the best work I can imagine. I hope you can meet a character from the past, and create an emotional connection with history, and her unique and wonderful story."
A copy of the headdress and shawl worn by Juanita was naturally dyed and made from alpaca wool by Centro Textiles Tradicionales in Chinchero and Cusco, Peru.
Visitors to the exhibition can also learn about the results of the research, review artifacts from the burials, and carry replicas of them. In addition, visitors can take a virtual journey using VR glasses in the footsteps of Capacocha, where they can follow traces of the Inca roads to Tambo, with final stops along the way at the slopes of Chachani, Misti and Pichu Picchu.
For the researchers who spent years studying Juanita, the hard work done to bring her back to life was worth it. Sosha said:
“The face gives us a very realistic impression when looking at a living person.”
She added:
“It was a very emotional moment for me after working for so many years with these mummies, to finally be able to look at their faces.”
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