News in Brief Anthropology

Mummified Incan teen drank, did drugs

Girl, who was sacrificed, may have been sedated by alcohol, coca leaves

CHILD SACRIFICE  The mummified teenager known as the Maiden ingested copious amounts of alcohol and chewed coca leaves in the weeks before her death in an Incan sacrifice ritual, a new analysis of her tightly braided hair finds.

Johan Reinhard

By Rachel Ehrenberg

- More than 2 years ago

In the month before her death as a sacrifice to Incan gods, a teenage girl drank heavily and chewed coca leaves, according to a new analysis of her mummified remains.