The Aconcagua mummy is the frozen mummy of an Inca boy, estimated to have been about seven years old at the time of his death and dated to around 1500 CE. He was buried as part of the Inca ritual known as capacocha. His body was discovered by hikers in 1985 at an elevation of about on Aconcagua, in the Andes of Mendoza Province, Argentina.
The mummy is exceptionally well preserved because of the cold, dry conditions of its high-altitude burial site. Scientific analyses of his remains have contributed to research on Inca burial practices, diet, and the population history of Indigenous peoples of the Andes.
Discovery A seven-year-old Inca boy was discovered in 1985 on the southwestern slopes of Aconcagua, near Pirámide Mountain in Mendoza Province, Argentina, at an elevation of about . The Aconcagua mummy was buried inside a semicircular stone structure, covered in vomit, red pigment, and fecal remains.
His remains had been preserved there for more than 500 years before they were found by mountaineers. The mummy is exceptionally well preserved because of the cold, dry conditions of its high-altitude burial site.
Following the discovery, local authorities were notified and archaeologists conducted a professional excavation of the burial site.
Clothing and associated items The child was dressed in two tunics and wore sandals and a necklace of stones. His body was wrapped in numerous textiles in a style associated with central coastal Peru. Although the wrappings reflected coastal textile traditions, isotope analysis, the study of chemical signatures preserved in his remains, has been interpreted as suggesting that he was likely raised in the Andean highlands.
Archaeologist María Constanza Ceruti describes additional clothing enclosed within the bundle surrounding his body. This included several mantles, or coverings, one decorated with feathers from highland birds, as well as a feathered headdress, woven belts, five tunics, three breechcloths worn around the waist and groin, a pair of sandals, and two bags. Some tunics were made from cumbi, a fine woven cloth.
Six small figures were placed alongside him: three representing males and three representing animals. The male figures were made of gold, silver, and Spondylus, a marine shell used in Andean ritual offerings. They were decorated with feathers from rainforest birds. Two animal figures were shell llamas; the third was a silver camelid, an animal belonging to the family that includes llamas and alpacas.
In her 2012 study of capacocha, the Inca ritual involving the sacrifice of children, anthropology researcher Jennifer L. Faux describes the abundance of grave goods as unusual for a male victim. She notes that female victims often received more elaborate offerings, which she characterizes as conveying greater honour. Scientific analysis
The Aconcagua mummy has been studied using isotope analysis and ancient DNA, providing information about the boy's diet, ancestry, and the genetic history of the Indigenous peoples of the Andes.
Diet and origin
Researchers analyzed carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotopes preserved in the boy's remains to reconstruct his diet during the last year and a half of his life. The results showed that he ate mainly maize, quinoa, capsicum, potatoes, and terrestrial meat before his death. Earlier in his life, however, his diet had been based primarily on marine foods. Researchers also identified achiote in the contents of his stomach and colon.
The combination of a marine-based childhood diet and burial high in the Andes suggested that the boy may have moved during his lifetime. Although isotopic analysis could not determine his geographic origins precisely, researchers suggested that he most likely came from somewhere between southern Peru and central Chile before travelling to the highlands.
Genetic analysis
In 2015, researchers extracted DNA from a 350 mg sample of the boy's lung tissue. Analysis of his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is inherited through the maternal line, identified a previously unknown branch of Haplogroup C1b. Designated C1bi, with the "i" referring to Inca, the lineage is defined by ten genetic mutations not previously recorded within C1b. Researchers estimated that the lineage originated about 14,300 years ago.
Researchers then compared the boy's DNA with ancient and modern genetic databases. They identified only a few closely related individuals, including three living people from Peru and Bolivia and one individual associated with the Wari culture. Researchers suggested that the lineage was once more widespread in the Andes and that some genetic diversity present before European contact in the 16th century was later lost. The findings also revealed previously undocumented genetic diversity among pre-Columbian populations of South America.
Three years later, in 2018, researchers sequenced the boy's complete genome using a 100 mg sample of lung tissue. Analysis of the complete genome found that he was most closely related to present-day Andean populations and was genetically closer to Quechua-speaking peoples than to Aymara-speaking populations of the south-central Andes. His paternal ancestry belonged to Haplogroup Q-M3, and his Y chromosome showed the closest relationship to the Choppca, an Indigenous Quechua-speaking population from the Huancavelica Region of central Peru.
Cause of death The Aconcagua boy died as part of capacocha, an Inca ritual in which selected children were sacrificed and buried at high-altitude shrines in the Andes.
The precise cause of his death remains uncertain. Examination of the remains has not established a specific fatal injury or method of death. Although other capacocha victims died through methods including head trauma, strangulation, or exposure to extreme cold, the available evidence does not establish which method caused the Aconcagua boy's death.
See also Mummy Juanita Children of Llullaillaco Chinchorro mummies
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