Inca Ice Princess

Here comes another blog about how social media has contributed to my knowledge of archaeology around the world. My friends are constantly sending me articles or pictures of archaeology related topics, whether they think I would find it interesting or not (but I always appreciate their support in my career path). Recently, a friend sent me a picture taken by the National Geographic via Instagram. The photo has 1,26,299 likes to date, with good reason. The post is of the famous Inca Ice princess that was discovered in 1995, and is amazingly well preserved. The princess, known as Juanita, was found by explorer Johan Reinhard, in a 19,000 ft. crater as he descended Mt. Ampato. Juanita was around 11-15 years old and was probably a victim of human sacrifice. Along with the body, objects presumably offered to the gods, was found on the slope. Scientific analysis has been able to determine what she ate before her death, which illnesses she suffered from in life, and who she shares DNA with. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_Juanita This is unrelated to Juanita, but another archaeological thing that a friend sent me recently was this joke: Why was the archaeologist sad? Because her career was in ruins. .. a corny joke with a disconcerting message.