Working with a facial reconstruction expert, scientists managed to create a silicone bust of the mummy.
It is estimated that the young girl, whose mummy was found in 1995, died more than 500 years ago.
American archaeologist Johan Reinhard, who found the mummy, said that the silicone bust made ‘Juanita’ “even more alive.”
The mummy’s internal organs, skin, hair and even the food residue in its stomach were preserved, all of which were discovered frozen.
Scientists took many factors into account for facial reconstruction.
Body scan, DNA studies and ethnic characteristics guided the study.
Swedish facial modeling expert Oscar Nilsson joined the team consisting of Peruvian and Polish scientists.
Nilsson told the Associated Press that creating the face took 400 hours of work.
Johan Reinhard, who found the mummy, said: “I never thought I would ever see what his face looked like when he was alive. But after 28 years, this became reality,” he said and thanked Oscar Nilsson.
‘CAPACOCHA’ RITUAL
Reinhard and Peruvian mountaineer Miguel Zárate found Juanita’s frozen body during a climb of Ampato Volcano at an altitude of 6,400 meters.
The mummy wore a ceremonial jacket and headdress. There were ceramic objects and figures around it.
Studies show that the young girl was 14 to 15 years old when she was sacrificed.
A scan conducted at Johns Hopkins University concluded that the girl’s death was caused by a hard blow to the back of her head.
Experts also say the girl may have been drugged before her sacrifice.
In the Inca culture, children were preferred in the sacrificial rituals called ‘capacocha’ because they were considered pure beings.
In the belief system of the Inca Empire at that time, it was believed that such death brought great honor to the victim’s family.
Priests would take the children to a high mountain and give them an intoxicating drink to relieve their pain and fear, and then either kill them or leave them to die.
“The sacrificed child was seen as an intermediary between the villagers and the gods and became a worshiped person,” Reinhard explains.
