The Inca Ice Maiden excavation took place on Ampato, a snow capped mountain in the Andes (a mountain range in South America). When Ampato's neighbor volcano, Sabancaya, erupted, it caused the ice at the top of Ampato to melt. The melting ice revealed a bunch of Inca artifacts including a mummy. Johan Reinhard and Miguel Zarate climbed Ampato in search of these artifacts. They started climbing on September 6, 1995. They set their base camp at 16,300 feet above sea level about 4400 feet from the peak. Their first time up the mountain was unusual because at 20,400 feet they found grass frozen in ice. When they got to the "grass site", it was too dark to carry on to the peak so they returned to the base camp. On September 7, they moved their camp to 19,200 feet above sea level, and there they found Inca artifacts. On September 8, they passed the grass site in the morning and soon they were only 200 feet away from the peak. When they reached the peak, they saw something which looked like bundled up cloth, but when they got closer they saw it was a frozen mummy. They were also surprised because it was a female mummy. As they tried carrying the frozen mummy down the mountain, Sabancaya erupted again. They tried running, but the mummy was too heavy. They left it in a safe place at about 19,900 feet. The next morning, Johan Reinhard went up by himself to get the mummy. When he returned with the mummy, they put it on a burro (a mule). At 15,300 feet near a stream, they set up their new base camp. The next day was September 10, 1995 and they began a 13 hour non-stop walk to the city.

Inside the laboratory, scientists used x-rays, CATscans, DNA testing and a lot of other tests to discover that she lived around 1470 AD and was 14 years old when she died. They even figured out who might be her relatives living today. Archaeologists worked with a team of specialists to learn everything they could about her and her life before she was sacrificed. They found cloth bags with clippings of hair (a common Andean custom), as well as elaborate shawl pins, carvings, and clothing. From the tests, they learned that she had eaten vegetables before she died, and had been killed by a blow to the head. After completing the tests, she was put into a special unit that controlled the temperature (below zero degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity. She was exhibited at the National Geographic Society before returning to Arequipa, Peru.