High Altitude Archaeologist Explorer Constanza Ceruti

Dr. Constanza Ceruti is the only female Andean high altitude archaeologist in the world and the first female high altitude archaeologist in the world. She examines Inca ceremonial centers on the summits of Andean mountains. She has climbed over 100 mountains above 16,000 ft. to study mountaintop shrines of the Inca civilization, having co-discovered the best preserved frozen mummies at 22,200 ft., on the summit of Llullaillaco, the highest archaeological site on earth. Graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and, with a Ph.D. at University of Cuyo, she is currently a Scientific Investigator of the National Council for the Scientific Research (CONICET) in Argentina and a Professor of Inca Archaeology at Catholic University of Salta. She is the author of six books and more than forty academic publications, and she has lectured and traveled throughout five continents. She has been awarded the Gold Medal of the University of Buenos Aires and the Gold Condor of the Argentine Army; in addition to being distinguished as an Emerging Explorer of the National Geographic Society (and one of the five awardees representing this institution at the Prince of Asturias Awards Ceremony).