Sacrificed 'Maiden' on Display

Exhibit extremely popular, but some local tribes protest
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 8, 2007 3:39 PM CDT
Sacrificed 'Maiden' on Display
The mummy "La Doncella" or "The Maiden" sits on display at the High Mountain Archeological Museum (MAAM) in Salta, Argentina, Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007. "The Maiden," who is on display for the first time since her discovery in 1999, was approximately 15-years-old when she and her two children died as...   (Associated Press)

A girl once sacrificed to the gods is now on display in an Argentine museum, CNN reports. “La Doncella” (Spanish for “the Maiden”), displayed in an icy chamber, has the same calm gaze and gray shawl she wore when she died 500 years ago. Hundreds of visitors are coming daily to witness the girl who gave her life to an annual corn harvest.

Native groups waged a losing campaign to have her buried or kept away from the public; a representative of the tribes has called the display a "great mistake." The girl was found alongside a little boy and girl who are currently being analyzed. Experts say that the 3 were discovered at the highest elevation ever for sacrificed victims of the Inca empire. (More Empires stories.)

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