If volcanic ash surrounds the mummies, such as has occurred in some cases in the Andes, this also helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria, while maintaining moisture. Scientists have noted that some humidity is necessary for the preservation of the body the total absence of moisture causes shrinkage and organic materials become brittle due to water loss. Most important is the continuous below-freezing temperatures found at the high altitudes of Andean peaks. Several conditions contribute to the excellent preservation of the bodies. On snow-laden mountains this has allowed for frozen bodies with little decomposition even after the passage of five centuries. Indeed, several chroniclers described “mummies” buried while they were still alive. Inca sacrificial victims often became frozen at the time of their deaths, not later when time had passed and the bodies had begun to decompose. The Andean mountaintop mummies are unusual when compared to the world’s few other “ice mummies” such as the Iceman from the Alps (see article in this issue). This 13-year-old female mummy, called the Llullaillaco Maiden, was recovered in 1999. Thanks to the difficulties encountered in even reaching high mountain summits, the offerings have provided rare evidence of Inca religion that has survived the impact of the Spanish conquistadors and looters over the centuries. In the lands ruled by the Incas, mountain summits were selected as places for making the most important of all offerings-human sacrifices. Mountain deities figured prominently in indigenous Andean beliefs and, among many traditional communities in the area, they still do. The Incas not only managed to overcome physical challenges, such as climbing in thin air, altitude illness, and route-finding in difficult terrain, they also surmounted a psychological barrier brought on by a fear of the deities inhabiting sacred mountains. Nowhere else on earth have archaeological remains been found at 22,000 feet and, indeed, this altitude would not even be reached again for four centuries after the Incas.

4,000 m)-the highest that permanent villages are normally found- have difficulty in reaching, let alone working at, altitudes over 17,000 feet ( ca. Even people who have lived all their lives at 13,000 feet ( ca. It is the high altitude of so many ruins that has captured the public’s attention, not least because of the great amount of energy, organization, and in some cases specialized techniques necessary for constructing and maintaining structures at such heights. Team members survey remains of one of the structures on the summit of Llullaillaco. 6,700 m), and they did this in an area spanning 2,000 miles in the Andes. 1470–1532 CE), they constructed stone structures on nearly 100 mountains ranging from 17,000 to 22,000 feet ( ca. However, one of their achievements remains especially impressive. The Incas are renowned for massive carved stone structures, the construction of thousands of miles of roads, and the establishment of one of the greatest empires in the ancient Americas.

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