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Mummy Hand, Magdalena de Cao, El Brujo, Peru, 2004

A close-up shows the desiccated hand of a remarkably preserved woman from Peru's ancient Moche culture. The discovery of her elaborately wrapped remains at a ceremonial site called El Brujo puzzled archaeologists, who were surprised by what appeared to be a female ruler among the male-dominated Moche.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Mystery of the Tattooed Mummy," July 2006, National Geographic magazine)

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Photograph by Ira Block