Show i r-F r S 9 I J o 0 m CD c nJ u CD tJ J c m 0 o. o E EI w J I E S vr A scientist examines the remains of an Incan girl believed to have been sacrificed about years ago n II i ray 11 l D tn Lv I i v. v 9 i t r t- t n TI f f if qz h t i i r t 4 d t r- r Tk Jf 1 I 1 1 l ll M Mummified t child children hl exhibit upsets indigenous groups Monte Reel The Washington Post Their facial features are clear and their muscles are firm The blood remains frozen in their veins and the vivid clothes they wore the day they died remain intact The three Incan children believed to be victims of a mountaintop sacrifice sacrifice sacrifice fice about years are ago among the preserved best-preserved mummies ever found and Argentine officials hope to display them this fall in a museum inthis inthis in inthis this city in the far north But not everyone is looking forward to t the e p public unveiling of human remains that look anything but ancient Members of an Argentine indigenous organization are trying to legally block th the display saying it dishonors their little brothers and sisters Rival museum officials in Buenos Aires dismiss dismiss dismiss dis dis- dis- dis miss the exhibit as mo morbid bid And the explorer who discovered the bodies six years ago worries that a rushed showing showing showing show show- ing could permanently damage them Id much prefer that they not be displayed just because of all of the headaches said Johan Reinhard who lives in Arlington Va and is an explorer in residence for the National Geographic Society which sponsored the expedition Reinhard and his team of moun moun- ta archaeologists found the three bodies along with dozens of Incan artifacts atop the foot peak near the Argentine border with Chile about miles west of here The two corpses girls and a boy believed to range in n age from about 6 were 15 mummified mummified to not artificially fied but preserved naturally by the combination of freezing temperatures thin air and moderate humidity No signs of violence were found scientists scientists scientists suspect the three were simply left to freeze to death on a funerary platform platform plat plat- form fonn as sacrificial gifts to an ancient mountain god The museum currently exhibits the collection of including artifacts gold and silver statues textiles and pottery- pottery and hopes to unveil a mummy exhibit for its year one-year anniversary on Nov 19 charging tourists about 3 to enter The museum plans to show the mummies mummies mummies mum mum- mies in rotation one at a time Whether it was right or wrong to take the mummies from the mountain I dont don't know said Gabriel Miremont the museums museum's director But we now have them so we have a choice leave them in a laboratory with a small group of scientists or share them with society I think its it's more democratic to give everyone the opportunity to see them |