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Mummy Juanita

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Oddity

The Resume

    Also known as the Lady of Ampato and the Inca Ice Maiden
    Killed as a sacrifice to the Incan gods between 1450 and 1480
    Believed to have been from 12 to 15 years old at her death
    Discovered on Mount Ampato by anthropologist Johan Reinhard and climbing partner Miguel Zarate (September, 1995)
    On display at the Museum of Andean Sanctuaries at the Catholic University of Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru

Why she might be annoying:

    Her remains were exposed after ash from an erupting volcano caused the ice to melt, which is rather ironic given that anthropologists suspect she was sacrificed in response to a volcanic eruption that had altered the weather.
    Based on analysis of her hair, she spent much of her last year intoxicated on alcohol and coca leaves.
    A month after her discovery, Reinhard returned to the mountain with an archeological team that found two more preserved bodies, a young boy and girl, who may have been sacrificed to be her companions in death.
    When she was put on display in Washington, DC, President Bill Clinton said at a fundraising dinner, ‘If I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good-looking mummy!’ (1996)
    At the same dinner, Joseph Lieberman joked, ‘In high school, she dated Bob Dole.’

Why she might not be annoying:

    Because she was frozen, instead of desiccated like Egyptian mummies, her skin, hair, blood, tissues, and internal organs were remarkable condition.
    She has been called ‘perhaps the best-preserved mummy in history.’
    The clothes and goods she was buried with provided insights into Incan culture.
    She was killed by a blow to the head, with a radiologist who examined her describing the injuries as ‘typical of someone who has been hit by a baseball bat.’
    Thanks to the alcohol and coca, at least she probably never saw the blow coming.
    Children were chosen for human sacrifice because they were considered pure beings, worthy of being gifts to the Incan gods.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying