How were the Andes mummies preserved?

No one knows for certain how the many Inca mummies found in the Andes mountains were preserved. The rulers, most of whose remains were taken to Cuzco in Peru, were probably artificially mummified. The many mummies of sacrificed children found on mountain tops in Peru, Chile, and Argentina are more likely to have been preserved naturally.

When the Spanish conquered the Incas, they burned all the royal mummies in their attempt to destroy the religion and culture of the people and impose Roman Catholicism. The remarkable mountaintop mummies of children, however, have survived. Unlike the Greenland mummies that were freeze-dried, the Andes mummies were simply frozen, leaving the body fluids in place. As a result, CAT scans show that the internal organs are intact and the heart and lungs still contain blood. DNA analysis is now being done to see if these people are genetically related to the present-day inhabitants of the region.

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Mummy found in Paracas, Peru
(Ancient Art and Architecture Collection)

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