Ice Maiden: Inca Mummies, Mountain Gods and Sacred Sites in the Andes - Softcover

Reinhard, Johan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0792259122 ISBN 13: 9780792259121

Publisher: National Geographic, 2006

Synopsis

Johan Reinhard’s discovery of the 500-year-old frozen body of an Inca girl made international headlines in 1995, reaching more than a billion people worldwide. One of the best-preserved mummies ever found, it was a stunning and significant time capsule, the spectacular climax to an Andean quest that yielded no fewer than ten ancient human sacrifices as well as the richest collection of Inca artifacts in archaeological history. Here is the paperback edition of his first-person account, which The Washington Post called “incredible…compelling and often astonishing” and The Wall Street Journal described as “… part adventure story, part detective story, and part memoir—an engaging look at a rarefied world.” It’s a riveting combination of mountaineering adventure, archaeological triumph, academic intrigue, and scientific breakthrough which has produced important results ranging from the best-preserved DNA of its age to the first complete set of an Inca noblewoman’s clothing.

About this title

About the Author

For more than 20 years, Dr. Johan Reinhard has conducted anthropological field research in the Andean countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Equador. His investigations have led him to present new theories to explain the mystery of prehispanic ceremonial sites on mountain summits as high as 22,109 feet, and ancient ceremonial centers including Machu Picchu. While making more than 100 ascents over 17,000 feet, Dr. Reinhard has discovered more than 40 high-altitude ritual sites.
In addition to being a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, Reinhard is a senior research fellow at the Mountain Institute, West Virginia; a research associate of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History; and an honorary professor at Catholic University in Arequipa, Peru. He is the author of a children's book and numerous scholarly books and articles. In 1987 Dr. Reinhard was a recipient of the Rolex Award for Enterprise in the field of exploration. He is noted in the Guinness Book of World Records for the Inca Ice Maiden discovery. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792259122
• ISBN 13: 9780792259121
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400