A close look reveals the stunning preservation of La Doncella, the naturally mummified body of a teenage Inca girl on display in an Argentine museum.

The discovery of La Doncella and two other mummified children on a mountaintop in Argentina in 1999 revealed rich details of ancient Inca life, such as the girl's finely braided hair, said anthropologist Johan Reinhard, who co-led the expedition that made the find.

In this regard, La Doncella even rivals Reinhard's previous discovery: a frozen mummy dubbed the Ice Maiden that he and a colleague found on a Peruvian peak in 1995.

(See an interactive feature on the Inca mummies.)

"The discovery of the three mummies [in 1999] … was the highlight of my life, or certainly [of] my work in the Andes," Reinhard told National Geographic News in 2005.

"These mummies were far better preserved … than the Ice Maiden."

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