Alysia Leon

Alysia Leon

Apr 27, 2015

Group 6 Copy 128
1

Have you ever been curious about Ancient Peruvian Mummies?

Mummies are portrayed throughout our media typically coming from Ancient Egypt but there are numerous ways in which a mummy can be created other than the detailed mummification process the Egyptians underwent. Dry, arid climates like that of Egypt and Peru can naturally create mummies by drawing the moisture out of the deceased's remains to create a leather-like appearance.

The Ychsma civilization is one that had a wide variety of burial preparations for their dead. At the field site we find 600 year old burials that were placed inside the tall, old houses, some that were placed inside 1 of the 3 pyramids or a large portion were buried within their specific cemetery. A majority of Ychsma burials consist of large funerary bundles that are propped up with two sticks, wrapped with textiles anywhere from 2-7 times, and given a funerary mask. Unfortunately, it is not easy to come across one of these burials that I have described above. A majority of the sites in Peru have been extensively looted beginning in Incan time (and likely extended into the Ychsma themselves like modern grave robbers).

Occasionally we do see instances of un-looted burials that show us exactly what the tomb looked like when the person was buried. This past summer one of these instances happened!

DUN DUN DUN!

Can you spot the face? Look carefully!

Would you like a hint?

Look at the bottom right corner.

Once this entire room was carefully excavated the remains were moved to the laboratory for further analysis. Part of this analysis entails unwrapping the above mummy to get a better understanding of how the Ychsma processed and handled their dead.

Would you like to see the unwrapping process?

Once this project reaches $500.00 I will post the unraveling process which will only be viewable to donors! Please help by spreading the word so I can share with you this fascinating process!

1 comments

Join the conversation!Sign In
  • Alysia Leon
    Alysia LeonResearcher
    How fantastic! Watch the unwrapping of a mummy on live webcast from the Smithsonian on May 7th! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSC3vqqxAFg&feature=youtu.be
    Apr 29, 2015

About This Project

Southern Illinois University of Carbondale

The Peruvian Central Coast has not been extensively explored through archaeological research. This project aims to determine mortuary practices at Panquilma (c. AD 900-1532), a secondary site to the most important religious center of the South American coast, Pachacamac, and how they reflect the social and political organization of the Ychsma people that lived 600 years ago prior to the arrival of the Inca in this region.

More Lab Notes From This Project

Blast off!

Browse Other Projects on Experiment

Related Projects

Big data and the law: should we graph the entire justice system?

Justice systems can be represented as a graph: a network of nodes linked by different kinds of relationships...

Unveiling Desires: Exploring BIPOC BDSM Preferences

"Unveiling Desires'' explores BIPOC fetishistic desires using a unique dataset from voluntary fetish surveys...

Can music influence the longevity of human blood cells?

Pythagoras believed that music could be used “in the place of medicine”* yet, to our knowledge, this important...

Add a comment