Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl

 

In 1994 Coastal Erosion exposed the body of a little girl at Ukkuqsi in the old whaling village of Utqiagvik in Alaska. The little girl was between 5 to 8 years old and lived and died between 800 and 1200. She was a member of the Thule people. Her name was lost, but she is known now as Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl. 

The little girl was loved in life. She was chronically sick in her short life. It was found that she had lung damage due to emphysema, and a rare congenital disorder, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Though she was chronically sick her body and burial showed signs that she was well-loved. 

She had evidence in her lungs that she spent much of her life by fire and being cared for and chewing on leather trying to soften them. A little girl helping her family. She however only had clay, leather, and fur in her stomach. It's not believed that she was intentionally starved, but that she and her clan were starving at the time of her death.

With a mixture of her illness and starvation, the girl would pass away. She would be laid to rest carefully. She was buried with a small toboggan made of whale bone likely used to help move her and wrapped in her fur parka. She was then buried in a cold cellar. 

After her scientific look at her body, she was then laid to rest by the Inuit people in Barrow, Alaska. 

SOURCES:

Jstor

Mummipedia

Seattle Times October 1995

Murdered Saints: Saint Solange

Solange was born into a poor, but devout family in the town of Villemont, France near Bourges. She was devoted and consecrated her virginity at 7-years-old. Solange was popular and very beautiful some even said her mere presence cured the sick and exorcised devils. She caught the eye of many including the son of the count Poitiers who was highly taken.

In 880 the man would come to Solange as she tended her sheep. He would get rejected by the shepherdess. He did not take the rejection well and planned to take her for himself. One night he would kidnap her by force. She would struggle against him. While they were crossing a stream she struggled greatly and fell from the horse. She would then try to flee him for him to catch up. He would then behead her with his sword. 

Legend states that Solange's severed head invoked three times the Holy Name of Jesus and she was able to pick up her head and walk to the church of Saint-Martin (now Saint-Solange) in the village of Sain-Martin-du-Crot and dropping dead there. 

Immediately there was a cult surrounding her grew. Many miraculous cures were attributed to her intercession. In 1281 an altar was erected in her honor at that church, now known as the church of Saint-Solange. Her head is preserved there as a relic. A nearby field where she prayed is referred as the field of Saint Solange and locals would go there during great times of stress to form a procession through Bourges with the reliquary head to invoke her against drought. 

Her feast day is May 10th. She is the patron saint of Berry, France, Bourges, France, for rain, rape victims, and shepherds.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Catholic Online

Catholic Readings

Sacrifices: The Crystal Maiden

 

The Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre) is a sacred cave located near Sa Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize. This place is known as a Maya archeological site that incases skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. It was a cave used by the Mayans for sacrificial reasons. The most known skeleton in the cave is known as The Crystal Maiden. It's possible that they were a sacrifice victim, and the conditions of the cave allowed the bones to calcify giving the body a sparkling and crystallized appearance. 

The Crystal Maiden was originally believed to be a woman around 18-20, but it's now believed that the body may belong to a teenage boy. It's believed that they died between 700 and 900. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia Wiki