Mystery of the Incan mummy: Cracks in skull suggest she died after her head …

1,600 year-old mummy of lady in 20s was found in Chile’s Atacama Desert
Young lady suffered from a parasitic infection known as Chagas disease
The disease had already placed her on the
brink of death, but researchers believe she was ultimately killed during a ritual murder

By
Ellie Zolfagharifard

PUBLISHED:

11:46 GMT, 27 February 2014

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UPDATED:

11:56 GMT, 27 February 2014

Evidence of a brutal murder has been found after forensic analysis on 1,600 year-old mummy discovered in South America’s Atacama Desert.

Researchers believe the mummy was of young Incan woman in her twenties who suffered from a tropical parasitic infection known as Chagas disease.

The disease had placed the young lady on the brink of death, and researchers believe she may have been murdered in a ritual killing.

Evidence of a brutal murder has been found after forensic analysis of 1,600 year-old mummy discovered in South America’s Atacama Desert

The mummy was acquired in the 1890s by Princess Therese of Bavaria, however all documentation about its history has long been destroyed.

For over a hundred years, the mummy was housed in the Bavarian State Archeological Collection in Germany.

Hair bands made from alpaca or llama hair, as well as the shape of her skull, gave scientists clues to her South American origin.

Forensic analysis on the mummy’s hair suggested she likely had a diet high of seafood and maize. The left image shows the external appearance of the hair plaits which are fixed at their ends by tiny ropes of foreign material. On the right is the detailed view of the mummy’s face

Ritual killings were common within the Incan culture. In 1999 three Children of Llullaillaco, who found deep frozen were found with an extraordinary collection of elaborate gold, silver and shell statues, textiles and pots containing food The children included a 13-year-old known as the 'Llullaillaco Maiden'

RITUAL KILLINGS IN INCAN CULTURE

Human sacrifice was common within the Incan culture, which developed immediately before the arrival of the Spanish in what is now parts of Peru, Chile and Ecuador between 1400 and the mid-1500s.

Sacrifices focused on juveniles and young adult female victims. The society also drew their victims from other location with beauty making a female a prime target.

Child sacrifice was called capacocha. The process of capacocha could begin years before the selected person was killed. The Incan state held annual rituals where they sacrificed children to the gods in order to promote a healthy harvest.

There is no evidence that this murder was a sacrifice to the gods, but scientists believe the young female was on the brink of death from a parasitic infection when she was killed.

But to better understand her origin and life history, Andreas Nerlich, a paleopathologist at Munich University, recently examined the skeleton, organs, and ancient DNA.

While there was no evidence of trauma from the mummy’s external appearance, a computer tomography (CT) scan revealed the frontal bones of the skull had been smashed.

Researchers, writing in the journal PLOS ONE, believe she was killed from several hits to the skull using a sharp object

When the woman died, she was buried in the Atacama Desert where the sand and air naturally mummified her.

Forensic analysis on her hair suggested she likely had a diet high of seafood and maize, and she could have been aged anywhere between 20 and 25 years old when she died.

The skull will be on exhibit at the Archaeological Collection of the State of Bavaria in Munich until mid-August.

Child sacrifice was called capacocha. The process of capacocha could begin years before the selected person was killed. A mummified body of a child who was killed during one such sacrifice is pictured here

The disease had already placed the mummy on the brink of death, and researchers believe she may have been murdered in a ritual killing. Following her death, she was buried in the Atacama Desert