We had a delay yesterday flying from Iguazu to Salta due to an airport storm causing a communications glitch in Buenos Aires.  Our flight to Salta was cancelled but we chose a flight to BA arriving in Salta six hours later than planned. Gaby, Mike, and Cecilia patiently waited and met us and took us to our apartment. (Muchas Gracias!!)

Today we walked to the main square.  Salta is beautiful!  And such a perfectly sized city. So easy to navigate.  We visited several landmarks and had a lovely lunch, met Guillermo, Julio, and Ruben who were there for lunch, too.

Later we visited the MAAM (Museum of High Altitude Archaeology).  The featured exhibit was about three 500 year old mummies and their artifacts which were found on Mt. Llullaillaco, at 22,210 ft in the Andes in the Salta province.  Fascinating!  It seems like a discovery every moment on this trip.

The three mummies found on Mt Llulluillaco were all Inca children.  I feel compelled to share my challenged thoughts with you. The well preserved mummies are a six year old girl, a seven year old boy, and a fifteen year old girl. They appear to be part of an Incan rite. They were supposedly selected to ensure the rest of the community would survive with good crops, good health, and good fortune. They were probably from the best genetic stock, best physical characteristics for the time, and the best upbringing. They were accompanied in the burial with many symbols and objects from the community. All were very detailed in complexity and meaning. The rite seemed to represent some type of matrimony in the afterlife to ensure a community’s success. The children were given intoxicants until they passed out and were buried at the 22,000+ site, certainly no easy feat. Yet, they were children. And everything in my moral compass made me uneasy with this rite. Interviews shown at the exhibit shared opinion that this was not considered a sacrificial burial. Nothing conclusive but certainly food for thought. Who might suffer to ensure a civilization’s success? Who suffers in my life for my success?  -A