A reminder of Latin-American origins and the pioneering role of women in the early history of high mountain and glacial archaeology

CERUTI, MARÍA CONSTANZA

Montana

Congreso; 5th International Frozen Pasts Glacial and Ice Patch Archaeology Conference; 2021

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research of the University of Colorado at Boulder

Professional archaeology on high mountains of the Alps and Scandinavia is a XXI century phenomenon, in spite of widespread assumptions that link the emergence of glacial archaeology to the accidental finding of the Ice Man of Tyrol in 1991. Published scientific contributions show that studies on frozen mummies were indeed prompted by the discovery of ?Otzi?, but it would take another ten years (and oftentimes more than two decades), for systematic archaeological surveys to emerge in high places of Europe.The historical origins of high mountain and glacial archaeology are to be found in Argentina, in the rescue archaeology missions that Dr. Juan Schobinger conducted to safeguard the mummies accidentally found on mount El Toro (1964) and Aconcagua (1985). My own archaeological research in the high Andes (as the only woman specialist in the world at the time), covered more than fifty ascents on mountains above 5000 meters, prior to co-directing (with Johan Reinhard in 1999) the expedition to the summit of volcano Llullaillaco, the highest archaeological site on earth, where we discovered three perfectly preserved frozen Inca mummies (Ceruti 2014 and 2018).Environmental challenges are considerably more difficult to overcome in the Andes, where mountains are much higher, glaciers are equally dangerous but more inaccessible, peaks are located hundreds of kilometers away from human habitation, and negative temperatures are more extreme than in the Alps. In the mid nineties, I had to overcome these challenges without access to proper technical equipment, without the assistance of helicopters or the chance of emergency calls (all of which are available to our alpine and Scandinavian colleagues). I also had to confront the skepticism of armchair archaeologists about any project involving a woman working on high mountains, as well as the inexistence of specialized journals where the results of my groundbreaking research could be published.Public interest in mountain archaeology has been fueled during my twenty five years of intense teaching and international lecturing, and the worldwide media coverage of my work and its results; in addition to the numerous awards received, which have also contributed to initial awareness on the importance of the cultural heritage of mountains and the urgency of archaeological research at high elevations. My surveys on more than one hundred peaks above 5000 meters (Ceruti 2016) and the scientific excavations that Reinhard and I codirected at 22,200 feet on the summit of Llullaillaco have been a turning point in the history of our discipline. This presentation is a reminder that high-altitude archaeology in the Andes (and the legacy of the woman who pioneered it in Argentina) play a foundational role in the global history of mountain and glacial archaeology.Ceruti, M. C., 2014, Overview of the Inca Frozen Mummies from Mount Llullaillaco (Argentina): Journal of Glacial Archaeology, v. 1 (1), p. 79-97.Ceruti, M. C. 2016, Inca mountaintop shrines and glaciers in the high Andes: Journal of Glacial Archaeology, v. 3 (1), p. 95-111.Ceruti, M. C. 2018, De momias y sacrificios infantiles: consideraciones para una arqueología de la niñez en Sudamérica: Revista de Arqueología, v. 31 (2), p. 118-133.