Chauchilla Cemetery
Chauchilla Cemetery is a cemetery that has prehistoric remains of prehispanics. Their bodies, which are mummified, contain artifacts. The cemetery is 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the city of Nazca in Peru.[1][2]
 Mummy in the Cemetery of Chauchilla | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Peru |
| Location | Chauchilla, Nazca |
History
The cemetery was discovered in the 1920s.[3] However, it was last used in the 9th century. The cemetery has a lot of very important burials that happened over a period of 600 to 700 years. The cemetery was first used around the year 200. This cemetery is a very important source of archaeology to Nazca culture.[4] Because the cemetery was damaged a long time ago, it was protected by Peruvian law in 1997.[4] Tourists pay around seven U.S. dollars for a two-hour tour of the cemetery.[4]
Preservation of the bodies
The bodies inside the cemetery have been preserved which is probably because of the dry climate in the Peruvian Desert. However, the funeral rites were also an important factor. The bodies had clothes on them which were made of cotton and were painted with a resin. They were bought in the cemetery, which was built from mud bricks. The resin was thought to have kept out insects and slowed bacteria from feeding on the bodies.[1]
Estaquería, a nearby cemetery, may have given clues to show how the bodies were preserved. At Estaquería, archaeologists have found wooden pillars which was first thought to have been used for astronomical sightings.[5] However, it is not thought that those posts were used to dry the bodies. This was a mummification process.[2] This clue helped archaeologists to understand why these thousand-year-old bodies still had their hair and some soft tissue, like skin, still attached to them.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 McGuinness, Tim. "The Chauchilla Tombs". Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Box, Ben; Alan Murph (2003). Peru handbook (4th ed.). Footprint Travel Guides. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-903471-51-7.
- ↑ Barrett, Pam (2002). Peru. Langenscheidt Publishing Group. p. 178. ISBN 978-981-234-808-1. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Jenkins, Dilwyn Jenkins (2003). The Rough Guide to Peru. Rough Guides. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-84353-074-9. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
- ↑ "Tours : Cahuachi y Estaquería". Archived from the original on 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
Coordinates: 14°59′00″S 74°55′35″W / 14.9833°S 74.9263°W