A local radiologist who has studied the bodies of three Incan children who were sacrificed 500 years ago said their bones have many stories to tell.

Dr. Carlos Previgliano has been associate professor of radiology and director of cardiothoracic radiology at LSU Health Sciences Center since 2007. He began the research in 1999 while in Salta, Argentina, and has written journal articles and lectured on the topic since.

The latest article on the children appears in the July journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Radiological imaging of bodies preserved from ancient times is called paleoradiology.

Previgliano said the frozen children were found entombed in a shrine near the 6,739-meter summit of an Argentinian volcano, Llullaillaco, at an average temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius. They are believed to be among the best naturally preserved assemblage of mummies anywhere in the world. The children are not related to each other.

The children’s bones, teeth and hair have been studied. Latest results suggest that they increased the consumption of coca leaves and alcohol (chicha is fermentation of maize) in the year before their deaths, which was common in Incan culture, Previgliano said.

Scientists have even been able to determine what substances were circulating in their blood to determine their diet. Leading up to death, they ate maize and dried llama meat rather than peasant food of vegetables and potatoes, likely to fatten them up in preparation for the sacrifice and guarantee their happiness going into the world of the gods.

The 13-year-old girl studied, referred to as “Maiden,” had a coca quid in between her teeth. She sat with her legs crossed and wore a feathered headdress in her braided hair.

It was determined she ate her last meal between two and seven hours before death.

The boy found had blood on his cloak, a nit infestation in his hair and a rope binding his body.

A defect in the lung of the youngest mummy was produced by a lightning strike after death, deduced by the archeological team who observed burned skin and clothing.

The three have remained frozen since death and their body chemistries stable. Previgliano performed CT scans on the three bodies, starting with Maiden in 20-minute increments because of their fragility and to prevent thawing. Five hundred fifty slices in total were scanned.

Image slices were later sent to a coauthor of the journal article because he developed software to perform reformatted images using the original scans, Previgliano said.

Internal organs were in good condition with natural shrinkage caused by dehydration. Both white and gray matter were observed in the brain. The spleen was not visualized, but the pancreas was easily identified, although it is usually the first organ to decay, Previgliano said.

Examination of the teeth found no cavities and long bones and teeth have allowed age determination.

Previgliano last went to Salta in March and one of the scientists from Denmark presented a poster on the volume of gastric content in the children at the World Congress on Mummy Studies in Rio de Janiero in August.

According to some of the journal articles, being selected for the ritual was supposed to be seen as a great honor that appeased the mountain deities and ensured the emperor’s well-being.

Sacrificial victims were sent to the afterlife as messengers to deities of the Inca pantheon and children were selected because of their purity.

Previgliano said the investigation is a significant contribution in radiology studies in Andean pre-Hispanic frozen mummies because it helped evaluate the preservation, causes of death, nutritional condition and abnormalities.

“I was shocked many times,” he said. “I was in front of Incans who lived 500 years ago.”

– Mary Ann Van Osdell