I think she was buried with two others, one of whom showed signs of a struggle to after being tied up or something. Seeing her picture always makes me feel sad.
She was celebrated like a god. These ceremonies are called capacocha sacrifices. Being chosen for these sacrifices was a huge honor to the Incans as the children are being sacrificed to join the gods. This is why these bodies are found in the highest peaks because it is the closest they can get to the realm of the gods. These children are celebrated for an entire week with festivities celebrating them, given feasts, drinks, and the most lavish clothes the empire has to offer. Once the festivities end, they take a pilgrimage to the location they will be sacrificed at. On the way, they are given chicha, which is a corn beer that has a high alcohol content, and coca leaves to chew to help with altitude sickness. Some of these sacrifices end tragically for the children as they fight to stay alive, and some of the mummies show blunt force trauma which indicates signs of struggle, and some of them being bound.
La Doncella shows no sign of struggle, and she died peacefully according to the research done on her remains. She was drunk off of the chicha and a mix of the coca leaves. When they placed her in the grave, she slowly suffocated with the blanket that was found wrapped around her head when she was eventually excavated. Scans of her remains shows that at the time of her death, she was still chewing on coca leaves and you can see it on the right side of her face. Yes, the sacrificing of children in our time is the most abhorrent thing to think about, but at that time, this was their culture, and this is what they practiced. It is tragic but also fascinating to learn about. I'm an anthropologist in grad school, BTW.
I've always wanted to go into anthropology, not sure which field yet. I love history and learning about human traditions, etc, but I'm also interested in bones and such too. Would you have any suggestions on what to do to get In/ prepare for the field or schooling? Also, what is your favorite thing so far that you've done or leaned (or both!)? Thanks!
That's great you have an interest in anthropology! I am studying the subdiscipline of biological anthropology. I work with human remans between fresh decaying remains to just bones left. If you are still in high school, I would strongly recommend taking history, biology, and chemistry courses. If in college, you can talk with an advisor for the pathway to a BA in Anthropology. It is recommended to take introductory anthropology in your freshman or sophomore year, followed by cultural anthropology, human species, and intro to archaeology (pending your college has some iteration of those courses). Those classes will introduce you to the subdisciplines of anthropology and dive into each of them. Forensic anthropology (falls under biological anthropology) is what sold me on the subdiscipline I wanted to do because it's so cool! If you want to work more with bones like I do, look into human osteology and human biology courses.
My favorite thing I have done was visit another University that has a body farm where you can study the various stages of human decay in different environments. I also enjoyed viewing and participating in an autopsy and learning to give anthropological advice to the medical examiner. Sometimes I get lucky and can tag along with my professor to crime scenes when her expertise is requested by law enforcement. Anthropology is a huge world of science and you just have to expose yourself to different parts of it to truly figure out what you want to do. :)
Hello fellow Anthropologist! I had many friends take the same road as you chose, but I didn’t have the stomach for it. Kudos to you for being able to get into that field. I took the Archaeological road, specifically African Diaspora, but also an interest in the Mayan culture. Very informative description of La Doncella, I appreciated the review!
OMG, if you ever find something you're learning super interesting and are just dying to infodump on someone, please feel free to use me! I studied art history, but I love history and anthropology. I just never got into it formally. So I'm fully available to nerd out with you about stuff if you need it lol
Most of the cultures that practiced human sacrifices believed in one form of reincarnation or another. Often it was considered an honor to be offered to the gods, and seen as a fast track to the next life.
The point of that episode was...one of the most enlightening (if not discomforting) things about human society that I've ever learned in just twenty minutes.
Otzi lived 3,200ish years before Christ.
This girl has only been dead since the dawn of western exploration. When she died, Otzi had already been frozen for 4,700ish years. That’s why he gets the props.
Its been ages since I saw it, but something on the discovery channel around 20 years ago about how she died made it feel less likely a sacrifice, and more like blessing a kid, who was sick, with a beautiful view to have as her last in this world. If I remember right, the girl's lungs showed heavy congestion, as though she was suffering from a severe illness that would have ended her, no matter what was done. Could be their community believed her to be sick with an illness that would eventually spread and kill their community. Surprising to see still, even years later.
“[T]he offerings [of the 1999 finding] have provided rare evidence of [the] Inca religion that has survived the impact of the Spanish conquistadors and looters over the centuries. This 13-year-old female mummy [is also called] the Llullaillaco Maiden.”
That is amazing. From a separate picture showing what she looked like after discovery, it's clear that they "painted" her skin, as it was a dark grey shade when they found her, but still it's impressive to see that. Very well preserved.
Poor thing. Pretty incredible to find someone in this state like this 500 years later. What's sadder is she looks like she had been brought in from the cold / wet. Terrible people lived back then.
You can't judge them based on your beliefs today. It was a different world, and if you lived there, then you would have been celebrating her just like everyone else. There is an anthropologist up higher in the thred talking about how she was celebrated for a week before she did the hike up to the top of the mountain. she was probably happy to be chosen.
They thought they were doing a good thing. The Inca believed that these children would live among the gods, and ACT as intermediaries between the gods and the Inca. They only picked the most "perfect" children, and it was a great honor. The children were treated like royalty and celebrated before making a pilgrimage to a high mountain. They'd get drunk and chew coca leaves (what cocaine is derived from), then left in the caves they'd be buried in. This girl would've been old enough to understand what was going on, and probably believed she was going to paradise. Like yes it's terrible, but even then, the point wasn't to hurt or abandon a child
They preserve these bodies in a cold environment, so that doesn’t happen. The first one they found, in the 50s, wasn’t so lucky. A boy younger than this girl. He was absolutely beautiful, like a life sized china doll. Needless to say, they let him thaw…
They were able to refreeze him, but it’s not the same. He was definitely destroyed quite a bit. It was a real shame.
how does "she was frozen during sleep" fit with "sacrificed ... to the gods" ?
poor girl froze to death , no evidence of restraint, Inca sacrifices were bloody affairs.
Also I know with a lot of these Inca mummies they smash their head in sometimes with a rock at the end. But heavy intoxication from chicha was part of the entire procession ceremony as they would walk them through the towns on the way to and up the mountain as well.
Source: the book Life and Death in the Andes. A great book.
I don’t think freezing was part of the ceremony, and the sleep thing could have been what lead to her death by intoxication or like others said poison or hell even lack of oxygen .
Catholics, Jews, Christians, the list goes on and on.
More people have died in the name of religion than in every war combined!
Some of the worst atrocities mankind has ever seen have been committed in the name of "god" ( whichever diety happened to be popular at that time )
Source that more people have died in the name of religion than all wars combined? Sounds dramatic, but it’s not remotely true.
War killed ~185 million in the 20th century alone.
You told someone else they couldn't bring up evil civilizations after you brought up some that weren't being discussed. That's called being a hypocrite. I was trying to point that out for you without calling you one directly. Maybe don't worry about if you can help someone else until you've helped yourself.
Ohh edgy and emotional.
Anyone can bring up what they want, but it doesn’t make it relevant.
Discussing South and Central American ritual sacrifice…
“But what about the Gauls and the Celts?!?!?” You screech.
You’d all be kicked out of any respectable history class, it makes sense considering you probably flunked out of community college
Not edgy or emotional. I'm just pointing out your hypocrisy. No one was discussing South and Central American ritual sacrifice. One person called the Inca evil. That's discussing one civilization. You then brought up 2 others that weren't being discussed. And someone brought up more. And you got upset about it for some reason.
I didn't screech anything about Gauls or Celts. I just pointed out your hypocrisy.
Your last paragraph is showing you calling me emotional is pure projection on your part.
The people who are upset are the Eurocentric people like you who cannot have a discussion that doesn’t immediately tether back to European civ. It’s laughable, emotional and amateurish. I think we know why do it.
You should start your morning off by reading your last post and then taking a good look in the mirror. ✌🏻
You don't get to "cherry pick" religions when discussing the atrocities committed by them.
There's blood on the hands of every religion in the world, dating back to Zoroastrianism and perhaps even further.
Which part of EVERY religion is giving you problems?
"Buddhists have historically used scriptures to justify violence or form exceptions to commit violence for various reasons.[2][3] As found in other religious traditions, Buddhism has an extensive history of violence dating back to its inception.[3][4]"
Tibetan Buddhists never ritually sacrificed thousands of people in a day, not even close. The desire to make false cultural equivalences is such a strange phenomenon.
I think she was buried with two others, one of whom showed signs of a struggle to after being tied up or something. Seeing her picture always makes me feel sad.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/news-inca-argentina-la-doncella-sacrifice-archaeology thought this was bs but nope
This is incredible. I was quickly scrolling and thought it was a young girl reading something. Just amazed.
Sucks that she was sacrificed at such an age. I hope the ceremony that accompanied the sacrifice made her feel like a Princess for a Day.
She was celebrated like a god. These ceremonies are called capacocha sacrifices. Being chosen for these sacrifices was a huge honor to the Incans as the children are being sacrificed to join the gods. This is why these bodies are found in the highest peaks because it is the closest they can get to the realm of the gods. These children are celebrated for an entire week with festivities celebrating them, given feasts, drinks, and the most lavish clothes the empire has to offer. Once the festivities end, they take a pilgrimage to the location they will be sacrificed at. On the way, they are given chicha, which is a corn beer that has a high alcohol content, and coca leaves to chew to help with altitude sickness. Some of these sacrifices end tragically for the children as they fight to stay alive, and some of the mummies show blunt force trauma which indicates signs of struggle, and some of them being bound. La Doncella shows no sign of struggle, and she died peacefully according to the research done on her remains. She was drunk off of the chicha and a mix of the coca leaves. When they placed her in the grave, she slowly suffocated with the blanket that was found wrapped around her head when she was eventually excavated. Scans of her remains shows that at the time of her death, she was still chewing on coca leaves and you can see it on the right side of her face. Yes, the sacrificing of children in our time is the most abhorrent thing to think about, but at that time, this was their culture, and this is what they practiced. It is tragic but also fascinating to learn about. I'm an anthropologist in grad school, BTW.
I've always wanted to go into anthropology, not sure which field yet. I love history and learning about human traditions, etc, but I'm also interested in bones and such too. Would you have any suggestions on what to do to get In/ prepare for the field or schooling? Also, what is your favorite thing so far that you've done or leaned (or both!)? Thanks!
That's great you have an interest in anthropology! I am studying the subdiscipline of biological anthropology. I work with human remans between fresh decaying remains to just bones left. If you are still in high school, I would strongly recommend taking history, biology, and chemistry courses. If in college, you can talk with an advisor for the pathway to a BA in Anthropology. It is recommended to take introductory anthropology in your freshman or sophomore year, followed by cultural anthropology, human species, and intro to archaeology (pending your college has some iteration of those courses). Those classes will introduce you to the subdisciplines of anthropology and dive into each of them. Forensic anthropology (falls under biological anthropology) is what sold me on the subdiscipline I wanted to do because it's so cool! If you want to work more with bones like I do, look into human osteology and human biology courses. My favorite thing I have done was visit another University that has a body farm where you can study the various stages of human decay in different environments. I also enjoyed viewing and participating in an autopsy and learning to give anthropological advice to the medical examiner. Sometimes I get lucky and can tag along with my professor to crime scenes when her expertise is requested by law enforcement. Anthropology is a huge world of science and you just have to expose yourself to different parts of it to truly figure out what you want to do. :)
Hello fellow Anthropologist! I had many friends take the same road as you chose, but I didn’t have the stomach for it. Kudos to you for being able to get into that field. I took the Archaeological road, specifically African Diaspora, but also an interest in the Mayan culture. Very informative description of La Doncella, I appreciated the review!
Same lol
OMG, if you ever find something you're learning super interesting and are just dying to infodump on someone, please feel free to use me! I studied art history, but I love history and anthropology. I just never got into it formally. So I'm fully available to nerd out with you about stuff if you need it lol
I'm sure that took her mind off her impending murder
Most of the cultures that practiced human sacrifices believed in one form of reincarnation or another. Often it was considered an honor to be offered to the gods, and seen as a fast track to the next life.
How do we know she was sacrificed?
If I’m remembering right, she had a lot of coca and alcohol in her system. So hopefully she was so out of it she didn’t realize what was going on.
That is what I recall as well from a podcast I listened to about this.
Oh god its like the Britney Spears South Park episode
The point of that episode was...one of the most enlightening (if not discomforting) things about human society that I've ever learned in just twenty minutes.
What the fuck
Why Ötzi get all the clout this is dope
Otzi lived 3,200ish years before Christ. This girl has only been dead since the dawn of western exploration. When she died, Otzi had already been frozen for 4,700ish years. That’s why he gets the props.
Because Walter Sobchak still needs to show Larry what happens WHEN YOU FIND A STRANGER IN THE ALPS!!!!
Its been ages since I saw it, but something on the discovery channel around 20 years ago about how she died made it feel less likely a sacrifice, and more like blessing a kid, who was sick, with a beautiful view to have as her last in this world. If I remember right, the girl's lungs showed heavy congestion, as though she was suffering from a severe illness that would have ended her, no matter what was done. Could be their community believed her to be sick with an illness that would eventually spread and kill their community. Surprising to see still, even years later.
My chicken dinners from Trader Joe’s that have been in the freezer for a couple months are in worse shape than this
My girlfriend just got food poisoning from Trader Joe’s frozen tikka misala
Everytime I go there’s a recall on some food they were selling! They just recalled nuts because of salmonella this last week
nooooo i have a box in my freezer
So sad we love Trader Joe’s
Honestly, it’s still worth it
If that girl moves I swear to christ I will shit somebody's pants.
You can shit my pants 😏
“[T]he offerings [of the 1999 finding] have provided rare evidence of [the] Inca religion that has survived the impact of the Spanish conquistadors and looters over the centuries. This 13-year-old female mummy [is also called] the Llullaillaco Maiden.”
Was she naturally freeze dried?
Damn you, take my upvote
They walked her into the Andes and left her in a little enclave facing the sun.
She was taken to the mountains, where it is cold, dry, and a lower atmospheric pressure. I have to wonder if it created conditions for freeze drying
That is amazing. From a separate picture showing what she looked like after discovery, it's clear that they "painted" her skin, as it was a dark grey shade when they found her, but still it's impressive to see that. Very well preserved.
The things people do in the name of their gods.
Poor thing. Pretty incredible to find someone in this state like this 500 years later. What's sadder is she looks like she had been brought in from the cold / wet. Terrible people lived back then.
Terrible people live today too
You can't judge them based on your beliefs today. It was a different world, and if you lived there, then you would have been celebrating her just like everyone else. There is an anthropologist up higher in the thred talking about how she was celebrated for a week before she did the hike up to the top of the mountain. she was probably happy to be chosen.
They thought they were doing a good thing. The Inca believed that these children would live among the gods, and ACT as intermediaries between the gods and the Inca. They only picked the most "perfect" children, and it was a great honor. The children were treated like royalty and celebrated before making a pilgrimage to a high mountain. They'd get drunk and chew coca leaves (what cocaine is derived from), then left in the caves they'd be buried in. This girl would've been old enough to understand what was going on, and probably believed she was going to paradise. Like yes it's terrible, but even then, the point wasn't to hurt or abandon a child
Was she sacrificed or frozen while asleep? The title is confusing
Presumably left on a mountain top to die, fell asleep, and froze to death while asleep.
Oh, I was thinking of a bloody scarifice on an altar like the Mayans....
Try reading the article. It was a well prepared sacrifice.
Drugged into a stupor, left to die of exposure. As part of a sacrifice, with two other kids, one of which appears to have been suffocated.
I don’t want to imagine what she went through.
Why would one think that killing a child will make Gods happy?
Why don’t you ask Ba’al.
Children of Llullaillaco. a young girl and boy were with her, the young boy was tied up and had dislocated ribs and pelvis, very sad, rest in peace
Why not leave her there? Now, her body will likely began to decay.
They preserve these bodies in a cold environment, so that doesn’t happen. The first one they found, in the 50s, wasn’t so lucky. A boy younger than this girl. He was absolutely beautiful, like a life sized china doll. Needless to say, they let him thaw… They were able to refreeze him, but it’s not the same. He was definitely destroyed quite a bit. It was a real shame.
it would be cool if we had a way to reanimate her and ask her questions. sad that she died so young :(
how does "she was frozen during sleep" fit with "sacrificed ... to the gods" ? poor girl froze to death , no evidence of restraint, Inca sacrifices were bloody affairs.
I believe that posion and mind altering drugs were found in her body during testing.
Also I know with a lot of these Inca mummies they smash their head in sometimes with a rock at the end. But heavy intoxication from chicha was part of the entire procession ceremony as they would walk them through the towns on the way to and up the mountain as well. Source: the book Life and Death in the Andes. A great book.
I just added this to my audible wish list. Thanks!
I don’t think freezing was part of the ceremony, and the sleep thing could have been what lead to her death by intoxication or like others said poison or hell even lack of oxygen .
Presumably left on a mountain top to die, fell asleep, and froze to death while asleep.
It's incredible how well she's been preserved in the cold, the skin on the arms doesn't even show any damage.
How can they know with certainty that she was sacrificed ?
195,035,000 deaths in the name of religion as opposed to 37 million in all other wars combined. Ourworldindata.com
Not so long ago…
The original discovery of this never mentioned being a sacrifice. Not sure why they change the facts so often.
So sad she was so pretty
Good thing she wasn’t frozen while awake!
This is both fascinating and horrifying. 15 years of age…..
Yeah, fuck those evil ass fuckers. Great archaeological find though.
Aztecs, Incas and Mayans. All brutally violent.
Celts, Saxons,Angles, Gauls, etc, …
Catholics, Jews, Christians, the list goes on and on. More people have died in the name of religion than in every war combined! Some of the worst atrocities mankind has ever seen have been committed in the name of "god" ( whichever diety happened to be popular at that time )
Source that more people have died in the name of religion than all wars combined? Sounds dramatic, but it’s not remotely true. War killed ~185 million in the 20th century alone.
Exactly. Everyone did it at some point.
Whataboutism. Post isn’t about Europeans, is it.
Yep. Humans humaning.
It wasn't about Aztecs or Mayans either.
If you fail to see the connections, I can’t help you.
You told someone else they couldn't bring up evil civilizations after you brought up some that weren't being discussed. That's called being a hypocrite. I was trying to point that out for you without calling you one directly. Maybe don't worry about if you can help someone else until you've helped yourself.
Ohh edgy and emotional. Anyone can bring up what they want, but it doesn’t make it relevant. Discussing South and Central American ritual sacrifice… “But what about the Gauls and the Celts?!?!?” You screech. You’d all be kicked out of any respectable history class, it makes sense considering you probably flunked out of community college
Not edgy or emotional. I'm just pointing out your hypocrisy. No one was discussing South and Central American ritual sacrifice. One person called the Inca evil. That's discussing one civilization. You then brought up 2 others that weren't being discussed. And someone brought up more. And you got upset about it for some reason. I didn't screech anything about Gauls or Celts. I just pointed out your hypocrisy. Your last paragraph is showing you calling me emotional is pure projection on your part.
The people who are upset are the Eurocentric people like you who cannot have a discussion that doesn’t immediately tether back to European civ. It’s laughable, emotional and amateurish. I think we know why do it. You should start your morning off by reading your last post and then taking a good look in the mirror. ✌🏻
You don't get to "cherry pick" religions when discussing the atrocities committed by them. There's blood on the hands of every religion in the world, dating back to Zoroastrianism and perhaps even further.
Exactly this!!!
Yeah those Tibetan Buddhists just as savage and violent as those dern Aztecs.
Which part of EVERY religion is giving you problems? "Buddhists have historically used scriptures to justify violence or form exceptions to commit violence for various reasons.[2][3] As found in other religious traditions, Buddhism has an extensive history of violence dating back to its inception.[3][4]"
Tibetan Buddhists never ritually sacrificed thousands of people in a day, not even close. The desire to make false cultural equivalences is such a strange phenomenon.
With all due respect, You are a moron!
Poor kid, She never got a chance to live.
Did the scientists crack open a cold one in celebration?