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Johan Reinhard

Johan Reinhard is an American anthropologist, archaeologist, and explorer specializing in high-altitude cultural research and sacred landscapes of the Andes, best known for discovering the Inca Ice Maiden mummy in 1995.^[1]^[2] Born in Illinois, on December 13, 1943, Reinhard began his undergraduate studies in anthropology at the University of Arizona before earning his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Vienna.^[3] For over a decade, he conducted cultural anthropological research in Nepal, focusing on sacred geography—the study of mountains and landscapes in religious contexts—which later informed his Andean work.^[1]^[4] In the late 1980s, Reinhard directed the first underwater archaeological project in Lake Titicaca, uncovering Inca ritual sites, and by the 1990s, he had shifted to high-altitude expeditions in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador, where he conducted field research for more than 20 years.^[5]^[6] His expeditions involved over 200 ascents above 5,200 meters (17,000 feet), leading to the discovery of more than 50 high-altitude ritual sites and over a dozen Inca human sacrifices, including three mummies on Mount Llullaillaco in Argentina—the world's highest archaeological site at 6,739 meters (22,110 feet).^[6]^[7] Reinhard's most celebrated find was the 500-year-old mummy of a girl, dubbed Juanita the Ice Maiden, preserved on Mount Ampato in Peru, which provided unprecedented insights into Inca sacrificial rituals known as capacocha. In 2023, a facial reconstruction of the mummy was unveiled, offering further details on her appearance and the ritual.^[1]^[2]^[8] He has also studied iconic sites such as the Nasca Lines, Machu Picchu, Chavín de Huántar, and Tiahuanaco, authoring over 70 publications on Andean archaeology and ethnography.^[1] From 1999 to 2013, Reinhard served as an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, where he remains affiliated as an Explorer and has received multiple grants, and as a senior research fellow at The Mountain Institute.^[1]^[6] His contributions have earned prestigious honors, including the Rolex Award for Enterprise, the Explorers Medal from The Explorers Club, the Puma de Oro from Bolivia, and recognition as one of Time magazine's top 10 scientific discoveries of 1999 for the Ice Maiden, as well as one of Outside magazine's 25 extraordinary explorers and a "Hero for the Planet" by the Ford Motor Company.^[1]^[6]

Early Life and Education

Birth and Upbringing

Johan Reinhard was born on December 13, 1943, in Joliet, Illinois, USA.^[9] He grew up in the nearby village of New Lenox, where he was raised as the youngest of three children in a family headed by a mailman father.^[10] His early years were marked by a sense of restlessness in the small, rural community, fostering a desire to explore beyond its confines. From a young age, Reinhard displayed a keen interest in outdoor activities, while his parents encouraged a more practical path, advising him to secure a stable job before pursuing dreams of adventure.^[4] At age 16, he took a summer job on a Rock Island railroad line gang, digging holes and laying telegraph poles across Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and southern Illinois, an experience that exposed him to the cultural diversity within the United States and built his resilience for future explorations.^[10] Reinhard's passion for anthropology crystallized during a trip to Brazil around age 18, where he visited a friend's family and encountered vibrant indigenous cultures, inspiring his later focus on high-altitude environments and mountain societies.^[11] This formative period in his youth laid the groundwork for his transition to formal academic studies in the field.^[3]

Academic Training

Reinhard began his formal academic training in anthropology at the University of Arizona in the early 1960s but moved to Europe around 1962 without completing an undergraduate degree there.^[3] During this period, he developed an initial interest in cultural anthropology, influenced by the interdisciplinary approaches to human societies prevalent in American academic programs at the time. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Vienna, earning a Ph.D. in anthropology in 1974 with a focus on cultural anthropology.^[3] His dissertation centered on aspects of indigenous cultures in Nepal, particularly examining ritualistic and symbolic elements within traditional societies, which aligned with the university's emphasis on ethnographic and historical anthropology.^[1] This work involved fieldwork in Nepal and was shaped by the intellectual environment at Vienna, where faculty expertise in European and non-Western ethnology encouraged rigorous analysis of cultural continuity and adaptation. Reinhard's early academic influences fostered a deep interest in sacred landscapes as integral to indigenous worldviews, particularly among mountain-dwelling peoples.^[3] Mentors in cultural anthropology at both institutions guided his shift toward understanding how physical environments embody spiritual and social significance in pre-modern societies, including through his PhD fieldwork in Nepal, setting the stage for his later ethnographic inquiries.^[1] This foundational perspective integrated conceptual frameworks with empirical data collection, prioritizing the interpretive study of cultural symbols and their ties to natural topography.

Professional Career

Early Fieldwork

Reinhard's early fieldwork began in the late 1960s with expeditions to Nepal, where he conducted anthropological research among remote indigenous communities. In 1968, while searching for the Kusunda tribe in central Nepal, he learned of and subsequently documented the Raute, a nomadic hunting and gathering group in western Nepal, marking one of his first significant ethnographic encounters.^[12] The following year, he extended his efforts to the Kusunda, a vanishing hunter-gatherer tribe, recording their language, customs, and dwindling population through fieldwork in districts such as Dang, Gorkha, and Surkhet.^[13]^[14] Over the subsequent decade, Reinhard immersed himself in the Himalayas, living there for more than ten years and focusing on shamanism, sacred geography, and the cultural practices of indigenous tribes across Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, and the Garhwal region of India. His research emphasized the interplay between shamanic rituals and the natural environment, particularly how sacred mountains served as focal points in Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions.^[3]^[15] He also documented the Raji people's shamanistic practices, including initiation ceremonies involving possession and sacred trees, highlighting the spiritual dimensions of nomadic life in high-altitude settings.^[16] This Himalayan phase culminated in Reinhard's participation in the 1976 American Bicentennial Everest Expedition, where he contributed as a climber and observer of local cultural contexts, reaching advanced camps on the mountain. Building on his anthropological training from the University of Vienna, he began refining high-altitude research methods, such as adapting ethnographic documentation to extreme environments.^[3]^[17] Techniques refined during his early career in the Himalayas informed his later ascents of over 200 Andean peaks exceeding 5,200 meters (17,000 feet), where he prioritized studying cultural rituals in isolated, elevated terrains.^[18]^[19]

Institutional Roles and Expeditions

Reinhard has held the position of Explorer with the National Geographic Society since 1982, supporting his high-altitude research through institutional backing and logistical resources.^[1] He served as an Explorer-in-Residence with the society from 1997 and again from 1999 to 2013, roles that facilitated collaborative fieldwork in remote Andean regions.^[3] Additionally, Reinhard is affiliated as a Senior Research Fellow at The Mountain Institute in Peru, a position he has maintained for over three decades, emphasizing conservation and cultural studies in mountain environments.^[19] In academic capacities, Reinhard acts as a Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Salta in Argentina, contributing to archaeological training and regional studies.^[20] He also holds the title of Honorary Professor at the Catholic University of Santa María in Arequipa, Peru, where he engages in scholarly exchanges on Andean heritage.^[3] From 1989 to 1992, Reinhard directed the first systematic underwater archaeological project in Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake at 3,812 meters, involving dives to recover Inca artifacts from submerged sites.^[12] This initiative, based in Bolivia, employed advanced diving techniques adapted to high-altitude conditions and collaborated with local Bolivian institutions to document pre-Columbian offerings.^[21] Throughout the 1980s and beyond, Reinhard led collaborative expeditions across the Andes, partnering with international teams and local scholars to investigate sacred mountains and associated cultural landscapes.^[22] These efforts, often involving climbs above 5,000 meters, focused on mapping ritual sites and understanding Inca religious practices through interdisciplinary approaches.^[23] Building on his earlier independent fieldwork, these institution-supported projects expanded the scope of high-altitude archaeology in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.^[6]

Major Discoveries

Mummy Juanita

In September 1995, Johan Reinhard led a small expedition to Mount Ampato in southern Peru, ascending the volcano's northwest flank to an elevation of 20,708 feet (6,312 meters) primarily to photograph the eruptions of the nearby Sabancaya volcano.^[12] Accompanied by his assistant Miguel Zárate, Reinhard spotted a colorful bundle partially exposed on the ice within the summit crater from approximately 100 meters away, which upon closer inspection revealed Inca artifacts and the frozen remains of a teenage girl.^[24] The mummy, estimated to be about 500 years old and dating to the Inca period around 1450 CE, was remarkably well-preserved due to the extreme cold and low humidity of the high-altitude environment, retaining her internal organs, skin, and clothing made of alpaca wool and feathers.^[25] This discovery, later named Mummy Juanita or the Ice Maiden, represented the first intact frozen Inca human sacrifice ever found, providing unprecedented insights into Andean ritual practices.^[26] The expedition team recognized the site's significance immediately, as the mummy's position suggested she had been placed on a ceremonial platform higher up the crater rim but had fallen due to ash and earthquakes from Sabancaya's activity, exposing her to the elements.^[12] In October 1995, Reinhard returned with Peruvian archaeologist José Antonio Chávez and a support team to recover the mummy from the crater, transporting her carefully in a specially designed tent to prevent thawing during the descent.^[24] Juanita, determined to be a girl aged 12 to 15 at the time of death, was dressed in elaborate garments including a shawl, skirt, and headdress, accompanied by ceramics, textiles, and metal statues indicative of a high-status offering.^[27] Scientific examination confirmed her as a victim of the Inca capacocha ritual, a sacred ceremony involving the sacrifice of children to appease mountain deities (apus) and ensure prosperity, fertility, and protection from natural disasters.^[28] Initial analyses, including CT scans and X-rays conducted shortly after recovery, revealed that Juanita died from a single blow to the head causing blunt force trauma, evidenced by a two-inch fracture in her skull and damage to her right eye socket, likely administered just before the sacrifice to induce a swift death with minimal suffering.^[29] Isotopic studies of her hair indicated a diet rich in maize and animal proteins in the months leading up to her death, suggesting she was selected from an elite coastal or highland community and prepared through ritual feasting.^[30] Toxicology tests detected traces of coca leaves and alcohol in her system, consistent with Inca practices of sedating sacrificial victims to ease their transition to the afterlife.^[31] These findings illuminated the cultural role of capacocha as a communal act of devotion, where chosen children like Juanita were seen as intermediaries between the human world and the divine, their preserved bodies serving as eternal guardians of the sacred peaks.^[27] The mummy's condition allowed for ongoing research into Inca cosmology, health, and social structures, underscoring the ethical challenges of studying human remains from such rituals.^[26] In 2023, Peruvian researchers created a facial reconstruction of Juanita, depicting her as a young girl with straight black hair, dark eyes, and reddish skin tones typical of Andean indigenous people, further humanizing her story and aiding educational efforts.^[32]

Llullaillaco Children

In 1999, Johan Reinhard co-directed an expedition with Argentine archaeologist Constanza Ceruti to the summit of Mount Llullaillaco, a 6,739-meter (22,110-foot) volcano straddling the Argentina-Chile border in the Andes, recognized as the world's highest archaeological site.^[33] Funded by the National Geographic Society, the team excavated a rectangular Inca stone platform, facing extreme high-altitude conditions including thin air, subfreezing temperatures, and treacherous terrain that limited work to short periods and required specialized equipment for transport and preservation.^[34] The expedition uncovered three remarkably preserved child mummies, estimated to be about 500 years old from the Inca period, along with over 100 associated artifacts such as gold and silver figurines, pottery, textiles, and spondylus shells, all recovered in situ to maintain contextual integrity.^[24] The mummies, now housed in Argentina's Museum of High Altitude Archaeology in Salta, consist of the "Llullaillaco Maiden," a girl approximately 15 years old dressed in elaborate ceremonial garments; the "Lightning Girl," a 6-year-old girl evidencing postmortem lightning damage to her face and chest; and the "Lightning Boy," a 7-year-old boy similarly attired in fine textiles.^[33] Their exceptional preservation—due to the site's arid, continuously frozen conditions combined with occasional volcanic ash and humidity—allowed for intact skin, hair, organs, and clothing, providing unprecedented insights into Inca physiology and material culture.^[24] These finds exemplified the Inca capacocha ritual, a high-altitude sacrificial practice where children, selected for their physical perfection, were offered to mountain deities (apus) to ensure prosperity, avert disasters, or mark imperial events, often involving long journeys from distant regions like Cusco or Lake Titicaca before burial alive or through exposure.^[33] Post-excavation analyses, including CT scans, DNA testing, and isotopic studies, revealed the children's diets shifted in their final months, with the Maiden showing elevated consumption of maize and animal proteins indicative of elite preparation.^[35] Hair sample toxicology demonstrated escalating coca leaf chewing and alcohol ingestion in the year leading to death, peaking in the Maiden's last weeks—likely to sedate and ritually purify the victims during the capacocha ceremony—while the younger children had lower but increasing levels.^[35] The Lightning Girl's preserved brain and heart further highlighted the ritual's physical toll, including hypoxia from altitude.^[36] Ethical debates surrounded the mummies' recovery and display, with indigenous groups in Argentina protesting their removal from the sacred mountain as a desecration of ancestral spirits and demanding repatriation to prevent commercialization.^[37] Reinhard emphasized controlled environmental conditions to avoid degradation, while critics argued exhibitions prioritized tourism over cultural reverence, echoing broader repatriation movements for indigenous remains.^[37] The project underscored tensions between scientific preservation and indigenous rights in handling such patrimony.^[38]

Other High-Altitude Finds

Between 1996 and 1999, Reinhard's expeditions across five Andean mountains yielded the recovery of 14 Inca human sacrifices, all positioned above 18,000 feet (5,500 meters), providing evidence of the extensive scale of capacocha rituals in high-altitude settings.^[6] These finds, including child and adolescent remains, were documented on peaks such as Pichu Pichu, where six sacrifices accompanied 47 statues, underscoring the site's role as a major ceremonial center.^[39] The recoveries highlighted the Incas' practice of transporting offerings over vast distances to these summits, often involving selective preservation due to glacial conditions similar to those encountered in Reinhard's earlier methodologies on Ampato and Llullaillaco.^[4] In 1987, Reinhard investigated an Inca shrine on Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas at 22,837 feet (6,961 meters), uncovering artifacts that included ceremonial vessels and metal offerings indicative of ritual deposits.^[40] These items, such as snuffing tubes and snuff trays associated with hallucinogenic rituals, suggested the site's function in Inca worship, possibly linked to themes of vision and divine communication, as explored in his analysis of the "Temple of Blindness."^[41] Additional recoveries included the 1996 discovery on Peru's Sara Sara volcano of a naturally mummified seven-year-old girl, known as "Sarita," bundled with textiles and ceramics at approximately 18,000 feet, representing a classic capacocha offering.^[42] On Misti volcano in 1998, Reinhard located another Inca child mummy at 19,000 feet, accompanied by ritual items like gold and silver figurines, further illustrating the prevalence of such sacrifices on active volcanic peaks.^[43] Collectively, these high-altitude finds reveal patterns in Inca offerings that integrated cosmology and sacred geography, with mountains revered as apus (mountain deities) serving as intermediaries between the earthly realm and the divine.^[44] Reinhard's work demonstrates how capacocha ceremonies reinforced imperial authority by linking distant provinces to Cusco through these elevated shrines, where human and material sacrifices ensured harmony with supernatural forces.^[45] The spatial distribution of sites above 17,000 feet emphasized the Incas' conceptualization of the vertical world, from coastal huacas to summit sanctuaries, as a unified sacred landscape.^[46]

Publications

Books

Johan Reinhard has authored several influential books that bridge academic research and public interest in Andean archaeology, particularly focusing on high-altitude Inca sites and sacred landscapes. These works draw from his expeditions to provide accessible narratives of his discoveries, enhancing global awareness of pre-Columbian rituals and environmental adaptations.^[47] His earliest major publication, The Nazca Lines: A New Perspective on Their Origin and Meaning (1985), published by Editorial Los Pinos in Lima, reinterprets the ancient geoglyphs of southern Peru as symbolic representations tied to mountain worship, fertility, and water management in an arid environment. Reinhard argues that the lines served ritual purposes linked to agricultural cycles and astronomical alignments, challenging earlier astronomical theories by emphasizing cultural and ecological contexts from Andean traditions. This book, revised in multiple editions, has contributed to ongoing debates in archaeoastronomy by integrating ethnographic analogies, making complex geoglyph interpretations available to non-specialists and influencing studies on pre-Inca symbolic landscapes.^[48] In Discovering the Inca Ice Maiden: My Adventures on Ampato (1998), released by National Geographic Society for younger readers, Reinhard recounts his 1995 expedition to Peru's Ampato volcano, where he located the remarkably preserved 500-year-old mummy of a teenage Inca girl, known as Juanita. The narrative details the logistical challenges of high-altitude recovery and initial scientific analysis, highlighting the mummy's gold artifacts and evidence of ritual sacrifice. Aimed at K-12 audiences, the book demystifies archaeological fieldwork while underscoring the cultural significance of capacocha offerings, fostering early interest in Inca history and conservation.^[49] Reinhard's The Ice Maiden: Inca Mummies, Mountain Gods, and Sacred Sites in the Andes (2005), also from National Geographic, expands on his Ampato findings with a broader exploration of over 40 Inca ritual sites discovered during more than 100 ascents above 17,000 feet. The volume integrates personal expedition accounts with analyses of mummification techniques, volcanic impacts on preservation, and the spiritual role of mountains as apus (deities) in Inca cosmology. By reaching over a billion people through media tie-ins, it has popularized the study of human sacrifice and sacred geography, bridging gaps between indigenous beliefs and modern science.^[50] Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center (2007), published by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, examines the iconic site's layout through the lens of sacred landscape and archaeoastronomy, proposing it as a huaca (sacred hub) aligned with solstices and mountain vistas rather than solely a royal estate. Reinhard uses survey data and ethnohistorical sources to argue for its role in Inca pilgrimage and astronomical observation, providing visual aids like maps to illustrate alignments. This work has advanced public comprehension of Machu Picchu's ritual functions, influencing heritage interpretations at the UNESCO site.^[51]^[52] Co-authored with Maria Constanza Ceruti, Inca Rituals and Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World's Highest Archaeological Sites (2010), issued by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, synthesizes findings from peaks over 6,000 meters, focusing on capacocha ceremonies where children were offered to mountain gods. Drawing on excavations, chronicler accounts, and artifact analyses, the book elucidates symbolic meanings of offerings like gold statues and textiles, revealing how rituals reinforced Inca imperial control over diverse landscapes. Its scholarly yet readable approach has enriched understandings of high-altitude archaeology, emphasizing ethical considerations in studying human remains.^[53]^[44]

Scholarly Articles

Johan Reinhard has produced over 80 scholarly works throughout his career, encompassing peer-reviewed articles, contributions to edited volumes, and reports that have significantly advanced the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and ethnohistory.^[3] His publications demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach, blending ethnographic fieldwork with archaeological analysis to explore ritual practices and cultural landscapes across diverse regions. These works, often co-authored with collaborators such as María Constanza Ceruti and José Antonio Chávez, have been published in prestigious venues including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and Mountain Research and Development, amassing thousands of citations and influencing subsequent research on high-altitude and indigenous rituals.^[54] Early in his career during the 1970s, Reinhard's articles focused on Himalayan shamanism, drawing from ethnographic studies in Nepal to examine spirit possession and indigenous healing practices. For instance, his contribution "Shamanism among the Raji of Southwest Nepal" in the edited volume Spirit Possession in the Nepal Himalayas (1976) analyzes the socio-religious roles of shamans among marginalized communities, highlighting their integration of animistic beliefs with local ecology.^[47] This work established foundational insights into shamanic traditions, emphasizing participatory observation to document rituals that bridged human and supernatural realms. Later publications, such as those on sacred mountains in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, extended these themes to broader cultural geographies.^[3] Reinhard's research shifted toward Andean sacred landscapes in the 1980s and 1990s, producing seminal articles on Inca cosmology and high-altitude preservation. His 1985 piece "Sacred Mountains: An Ethno-Archaeological Study of High Andean Ruins" in Mountain Research and Development explores the symbolic significance of mountaintops as huacas (sacred sites), integrating ethnohistoric accounts with archaeological evidence to argue for their role in imperial rituals.^[54] Key contributions on the capacocha ritual include "Stable Isotope and DNA Evidence for Ritual Sequences in Inca Child Sacrifice" (PNAS, 2007, co-authored with A. S. Wilson et al.), which uses scientific analysis of mummified remains to reconstruct sacrificial practices, revealing dietary and genetic patterns that confirm elite selection of victims. Similarly, "Archaeological, Radiological, and Biological Evidence Offer Insight into Inca Child Sacrifice" (PNAS, 2013, co-authored with A. S. Wilson et al.) employs multi-proxy methods to detail the physiological impacts of rituals, underscoring the Incas' reverence for mountains as divine abodes.^[35] These articles prioritize conceptual frameworks over exhaustive data, using representative cases to illustrate how environmental extremes preserved ritual artifacts and informed Andean worldview. Reinhard also contributed to underwater archaeology, particularly through studies of Lake Titicaca as a sacred Andean feature. His 1992 article "Underwater Archaeological Research in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia," published in the edited volume Ancient America: Contributions to New World Archaeology, documents the discovery of pre-Inca artifacts submerged in ritual contexts, linking them to Tiwanaku cosmology and maritime offerings.^[47] More recent work, such as "Inland Water Archaeology in Andean Lakes" (2023, co-authored with Christophe Delaere et al.) in Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America, synthesizes decades of findings to emphasize the lake's role in interconnecting terrestrial and aquatic sacred spaces.^[55] Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, his contributions to edited volumes on indigenous cultures and ritual archaeology evolved to integrate ethnography with bioarchaeological data, fostering interdisciplinary models for understanding ritual continuity from Nepal to the Andes. This progression reflects Reinhard's emphasis on holistic interpretations, where articles often serve as precursors to his books, extending detailed fieldwork into broader theoretical narratives.^[3]

Awards and Recognitions

Major Awards

In 1987, Johan Reinhard received the Rolex Award for Enterprise, which recognized innovative projects making significant contributions to fields such as exploration and cultural preservation.^[56] The award supported his high-altitude research initiatives in the Andes aimed at documenting and preserving indigenous cultural patrimony through archaeological surveys and resource management, enabling expeditions that led to major discoveries like the Inca Ice Maiden on Mount Ampato.^[6] Presented amid growing international interest in endangered high-altitude sites, it highlighted Reinhard's pioneering approach to combining mountaineering with anthropology in remote, oxygen-scarce environments.^[6] The Bolivian government bestowed the Puma de Oro Award upon Reinhard in 1992, its highest distinction for achievements in archaeological research.^[57] This honor acknowledged his extensive fieldwork in Bolivian high-altitude regions, including surveys of sacred mountains and ritual sites that advanced understanding of pre-Inca and Inca cultures.^[3] The award, typically given for exceptional contributions to national heritage preservation, underscored Reinhard's role in elevating Bolivia's archaeological profile through interdisciplinary methods that integrated ethnography and environmental science.^[57] In 1996, the city of Arequipa, Peru, awarded Reinhard its Gold Medal for his groundbreaking archaeological research in southern Peru.^[57] This prestigious municipal honor, presented in recognition of discoveries that enriched Peru's cultural legacy, specifically celebrated his 1995 find of the Inca mummy known as Juanita on Mount Ampato, which provided unprecedented insights into ancient sacrificial practices.^[3] The ceremony emphasized the medal's significance as a symbol of local pride in contributions to Andean heritage, marking Reinhard's innovation in non-invasive recovery techniques at extreme altitudes.^[57] Reinhard was honored with the Explorers Club Medal in 2002, the organization's highest accolade for extraordinary contributions to exploration and scientific research.^[58] Awarded annually to individuals who advance knowledge through fieldwork in challenging terrains, it recognized his lifetime of high-altitude expeditions uncovering over a dozen Inca human sacrifices across the Andes.^[57] The medal's presentation at the Explorers Club in New York highlighted Reinhard's integration of archaeology, climatology, and mountaineering, establishing him as a leader in extreme-environment scholarship.^[58]

Public and Academic Honors

Reinhard received the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal in 2017 for his remarkable service in the conservation of cultures through high-altitude archaeological discoveries and scholarship in the Himalayas and Andes.^[19] The award was presented on December 11 at the International Mountain Museum in Pokhara, Nepal, during the International Day of Mountains, recognizing his decades-long contributions to mountain heritage preservation.^[3] In 2024, he was awarded the University of Warsaw Medal for his scientific achievements and cooperation with the University of Warsaw.^[23] He holds several honorary academic positions and fellowships that underscore his influence in anthropology and archaeology. Reinhard serves as a Senior Research Fellow at The Mountain Institute in Peru, a role he has maintained for over three decades, supporting research on mountain cultures and environments.^[3] Additionally, he is a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Salta in Argentina and an honorary professor there, as well as an Honorary Director of the Explorers Club and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.^[57] Reinhard's discoveries garnered extensive public recognition through widespread media coverage and documentaries. The 1995 unearthing of the Inca Ice Maiden, Juanita, on Mount Ampato captured global attention, generating international headlines in outlets like Time magazine and National Geographic.^[26] His work has been featured in numerous television documentaries, including productions by National Geographic, BBC, NOVA on PBS, and Discovery Channel, which have highlighted his high-altitude expeditions and findings.^[42] His academic legacy extends through influential lectures and ongoing contributions to Andean archaeology. Reinhard has delivered keynote addresses at prestigious venues, such as the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., and the Midwestern Andean Archaeology Annual Meetings, where he has shared insights on Inca rituals and sacred mountains.^[59] These presentations have shaped scholarly understanding of high-altitude ceremonial sites, emphasizing the interplay between archaeology, climate change, and cultural heritage in the Andes. As of 2024, he continued active engagement, including a lecture at the Institute for Mummy Studies in South Tyrol, Italy, on Andean mummification practices, reflecting his sustained research influence into recent years.^[60]

References

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Johan G. Reinhard - Explorer Home - National Geographic Society
Johan Reinhard received his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Vienna. For over 10 years, his cultural anthropological research in Nepal included ...
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He May Actually Be the Most Interesting Man in the World
Nov 28, 2016 · All-around adventurer Johan Reinhard's greatest achievement may have been the discovery of a 500-year-old mummy high in the Andes Mountains.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
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BIO & CONTACT - Johan Reinhard
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His High-Altitude Climbs Yield Clues to Ancient Mysteries
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Contributor biographical information for The Ice Maiden : Inca ...
For more than 20 years, Dr. Johan Reinhard has conducted anthropological field research in the Andean countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Equador.<|control11|><|separator|>
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After the Ice Maiden - Rolex Awards
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NOVA Online | Ice Mummies of the Inca | High Altitude Archaeology (2)
"It's been 16 years since I started doing this," recounts Johan Reinhard, easily the world's leading high altitude cultural anthropologist and archaeologist.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
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Johan Reinhard - IMDb
Johan Reinhard was born on 13 December 1943 in Joliet, Illinois, USA. He is a cinematographer, known for Söhne der Sonne (2020), Holy Marvels with Dennis ...Missing: background | Show results with:background
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Mountain State Mavericks - WV Living Magazine
May 12, 2025 · “I'm from a town, New Lenox, Illinois, that had 800 people when I was born. And of course, all I wanted to do was escape. And here I am now ...
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VIDEO ARCHIVES - Johan Reinhard
While searching for the Kusunda tribe in central Nepal in 1968, I heard of the Raute, who were still nomadic hunters and gatherers in West Nepal, and thus ...
[11]
The Kusunda - A Vanishing Hunting Tribe of Nepal (1968-69)
Aug 23, 2022 · jr@johanreinhard.net. The Kusunda - A Vanishing Hunting Tribe of Nepal (1968-69). 1.6K views · 3 years ago ...more. Johan Reinhard. 240.Missing: Raute | Show results with:Raute
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[PDF] Decline of the Kusunda of Nepal - Asian Ethnology
Reinhard's observations show that in the late 1960s, the Kusunda living in Dāṅ, Gōrkhā, and Surkhēt still spoke. Page 8. 308 | BodT, AAley. Asian Ethnology 83/2 ...Missing: fieldwork | Show results with:fieldwork
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Born in Illinois, he began his undergraduate studies in anthropology at the University of Arizona, before going on to receive his Ph.D. in Anthropology from ...
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SHAMANS RAJI | ETHNOFLORENCE INDIAN AND HIMALAYAN ...
RAJI SHAMANISM POSSESSED MEN DANCING AROUND A SACRED TREE AT INITIATION 1970. Photo Credit Joan Reinhard. https://ethnoflorence.wordpress.com/category/ ...Raji Shamanism Possessed Men... · Raji Ritual Religion... · Nepal Raji Cult Religion...
[15]
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Approximately 600 porters were required to carry the gear to Base Camp. The team consisted of the eleven climbers, plus Joe Reinhard, an American ...
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https://ethnoflorence.wordpress.com/category/shamans-raji/
[17]
The next Hillary Medalist: Archeologist Johan Reinhard
A native of New Lenox, Illinois, Reinhard participated in the successful American Bicentennial Everest Expedition of 1976.
[18]
Johan Reinhard - A&AePortal
Johan Reinhard is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society; a senior research fellow at The Mountain Institute, West Virginia; ...
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Apr 1, 2019 · We report on recent discoveries from the first systematic underwater archaeological excavations in the Khoa Reef near the Island of the Sun, Bolivia.
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High-Altitude Archeology and Andean Mountain Gods
High-Altitude Archeology and Andean Mountain Gods. Johan Reinhard. ANTHROPOLOGISTS who climb normally must wait for free time to get into the mountains.
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Dr Johan Reinhard with the UW Medal - | University of Warsaw
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This resulted in the discovery of four exceptionally preserved Inca mummies on the mountains of Ampato (Peru) and Llullaillaco (Argentina). Discoveries Frozen ...
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Nov 24, 1998 · Then, in 1995, Johan Reinhard discovered a frozen girl—the first ever found—on Mount Ampato, in Peru. Nicknamed Juanita, this five hundred year ...
[24]
The Ice Maiden | National Endowment for the Humanities
Johan Reinhard scaled Peru's Mount Ampato to photograph a nearby erupting volcano. ... Juanita's discovery in 1995 captured the world's attention, making ...
[25]
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[26]
Mummy Juanita: The Sacrifice of the Inca Ice Maiden - Ancient Origins
Mar 25, 2018 · The discovery of Momia Juanita was made on September 8, 1995 by the archaeologist Johan Reinhard, and Miguel Zarate, his assistant. This find ...Missing: members | Show results with:members
[27]
Multidisciplinary Study of a Peruvian Inca Mummy Suggests Severe ...
Feb 26, 2014 · This case shows a unique paleopathological setting with massive blunt force trauma to the skull nurturing the hypothesis of a ritual homicide.
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Multidisciplinary Study of a Peruvian Inca Mummy Suggests Severe ...
The type of destruction indicates massive blunt force applied to the center of the face. Stable isotope analysis indicates South American origin: Nitrogen and ...
[29]
Ritual drug use during Inca human sacrifices on Ampato mountain ...
The capacocha was one of the most significant ceremonies carried out in the Inca Empire. During the ritual, the Incas sacrificed children and young women who ...Missing: Juanita cultural
[30]
Frozen Mummies from Andean Mountaintop Shrines - PMC - NIH
Llullaillaco (6739 m), in northwestern Argentina (Figure 8), Johan Reinhard and the author of this paper directed an archaeological expedition funded by the ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[31]
[PDF] FROZEN MUMMIES of the ANDES - Penn Museum
JOHAN REINHARD, PH.D. received his doctorate in ... Of Mummies, Mountains, and Immolations: An. Ethnohistoric Study of Human Sacrifice and Mountain.
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Archaeological, radiological, and biological evidence offer insight ...
Jul 29, 2013 · The Llullaillaco Boy and the Lightning Girl had markedly lower values (COCE and COC) than the Maiden (Fig. 5D).
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Inca Child Sacrifice Victims Were Drugged - National Geographic
Jul 29, 2013 · Mummy hair reveals that young sacrifice victims were heavy users of coca and alcohol in their last years of life.
[34]
Propriety, history clash in Argentina - NBC News
Sep 19, 2005 · Members of an Argentine indigenous organization are trying to legally block a museum's planned display of three mummified Incan children.Missing: considerations | Show results with:considerations
[35]
The Llullaillaco Mummies - Cultural Property News
Oct 20, 2022 · But in March 1999, the mummified remains of three children (one boy and two girls between six and fifteen years old) were found near the ...Missing: details | Show results with:details
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[PDF] Sacred Mountains, Ceremonial Sites, and Human Sacrifice Among ...
Johan Reinhard and José Antonio Chávez un- dertook four expeditions between 1989 and 1997 to Pichu Pichu, a 5,600-m peak in southwest Peru. (Reinhard 2005). The ...Missing: doctoral | Show results with:doctoral
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"Inca Shrine at Ancocagua . . ." by Johan Reinhard
The Temple of Blindness: An Investigation of the Inca Shrine of Ancocagua. Authors. Johan Reinhard, The Mountain InstituteFollow. Recommended Citation. Reinhard ...
[38]
Andean Past 5 1998 - Academia.edu
Bauer and Wilton Barrioneuvo Orosco; "The Temple of Blindness: An Investigation of the Inca Shrine of Ancocagua" by Johan Reinhard; "Ethnogenesis in Huamachuco" ...
[39]
NOVA Online | Ice Mummies of the Inca - PBS
In September 1996, high-altitude archaeologist Johan Reinhard led an expedition to the summit of Sara Sara in Peru in search of frozen sacrificial mummies.
[40]
FILMS & TV - Johan Reinhard
Several TV programs have appeared that include footage of Reinhard's research and focus on the importance of sacred landscape among the Incas.
[41]
[PDF] Inca RItuals and sacRed MountaIns - eScholarship.org
May 6, 2022 · Three expeditions to survey ruins on El Plomo were conducted by Johan Reinhard during the 1980s (Figure. 1.5), and Angel Cabeza (1986) presented ...
[42]
Inca Rituals and Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World's Highest ...
Oct 17, 2017 · The Incas carried out some of the most dramatic ceremonies known to us from ancient times. Groups of people walked hundreds of miles across ...Missing: cosmology | Show results with:cosmology
[43]
Inca Rituals & Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World's Highest ...
Aug 30, 2025 · Inka sites containing human remains of infants and adolescents sacrificed in capacocha contexts have been found in high glaciers in Arequipa ( ...Missing: tribes | Show results with:tribes
[44]
PUBLICATIONS - Johan Reinhard
2002 Sacred Landscape: The Prehistoric Cultures of the Andes. In Extreme Landscape: The Lure of Mountain Spaces, MacDonald, Bernadette (ed.), National ...Missing: PhD indigenous
[45]
The Nazca Lines: A New Perspective on their Origin and Meaning ...
The Nazca Lines: A New Perspective on their Origin and Meaning. Johan Reinhard ... American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 215. DOI ...
[46]
Discovering the Inca Ice Maiden : my adventures on Ampato
Oct 24, 2011 · A first-person account of the 1995 discovery of the over 500-year-old Peruvian ice mummy on Mount Ampato and a description of the subsequent retrieval and ...
[47]
The Ice Maiden : Inca mummies, mountain gods, and sacred sites in ...
Nov 4, 2019 · National Geographic explorer Johan Reinhard chronicles his high-altitude archaeological adventures in the Andes, focusing on the 1995 discovery of the Incan ...
[48]
Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center
42-day returnsRenowned explorer Johan Reinhard attempts to answer such elusive questions from the perspectives of sacred landscape and archaeoastronomy.
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Machu Picchu: Exploring an Ancient Sacred Center - eScholarship
Renowned explorer Johan Reinhard attempts to answer such elusive questions from the perspectives of sacred landscape and archaeoastronomy.
[50]
Inca Rituals and Sacred Mountains: A Study of the World's Highest ...
42-day returnsJohan Reinhard and Maria Constanza Ceruti The Incas carried out some of the most dramatic ceremonies known to us from ancient times. Groups of people walked ...Missing: Himalayas shamanism indigenous<|control11|><|separator|>
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‪Johan Reinhard‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬
A new perspective on their origin and meaning. J Reinhard. The Nazca lines. A new perspective on their origin and meaning.. J. Reinhard …, 1987. 107 ...
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(2023) Inland Water Archaeology in Andean Lakes. Underwater and ...
11 Inland Water Archaeology in Andean Lakes Christophe Delaere, Johan Reinhard, Marcial Medina Huanca, and Eduardo Pareja Siñanis Please note that this ...
[53]
https://www.ioa.ucla.edu/content/inca-rituals-and-sacred-mountains-study-worlds-highest-archaeological-sites
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PORTFOLIO - Johan Reinhard
1962-64 He received University Honors at the University of Arizona and University of Vienna in 1965-68 and 1972-73. Memberships. Explorers Club (Honorary ...Missing: background | Show results with:background
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Awards & Honors | The Explorers Club
The Explorers Medal is the Club's highest honor. Awarded annually, it recognizes individuals for their extraordinary contributions directly in the field of ...
[56]
LECTURES - Johan Reinhard
Carleton College, Northfield, MN. Cultural Institute and Catholic University, Salta (Argentina). Dumbarton Oaks "Symposium on Pilgrimage and Ritual Landscape ...Missing: Visiting | Show results with:Visiting
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Johan Reinhard visited the Institute for Mummy Studies
Jun 27, 2024 · On Monday, 17th June 2024 the American anthropologist and archaeologist Johan Reinhard held a lecture at the Institute for Mummy Studies.Missing: post- 2017