Over a millennium ago, a 50-year-old woman was laid to rest in a ceremonial rite at the ancient settlement of Pachacamac, near Lima, Peru. Found in an archaeological site just meters from the abandoned civilization’s temple, her mummified skeleton was discovered in a fetal position.
Archaeologists, mindful of preserving the woman’s remarkably intact body, have maintained her in the same state as found while preparing to exhibit the mummy in a French museum.
The mummified skeleton of a 50-year-old woman, found in the fetal position at an ancient urial site in Peru, will go on display this week.
Careful not to damage the woman’s well-preserved body, archaeologists have kept her in the same state in which she was found as they prepare to uncover the mummy.
Experts carefully lower the woman, discovered in the ancient civilization of Pachacaмac, as they prepare the skeleton for its inauguration at the Museum of Confluences, in Lyon, later this month.
The mummy will be presented to the public at the Museum of Confluences in Lyon when it opens later this month.
From a pre-Inca civilization, the fragile skeleton will form part of the new museum’s exploration of human representations of death in different eras and cultures around the world.
Pachacamac, located about 40 kilometers south of the Peruvian capital, was located on the Pacific coast.
More than 80 skeletons and mummies (including babies who appeared to have been sacrificed for ritual reasons) were found in a spectacular 1,000-year-old mound at the site in 2012.
Beyond these bodies, there were 70 other skeletons and mummies, all in the fetal position, lying around, most of them still wrapped.
The fragile skeleton will be part of the exploration of human representations of death in the new museum
The Pachacaмac civilization, which arose about 25 miles south of the Peruvian capital, followed the god Pacha Kaмaq, who they believed created the first man and woman.
The thousands of inhabitants of the ancient city, which existed between 800 and 1450, followed the god Pacha Kaмaq, who, they believed, created the first man and the first woman.
The townspeople, who built 17 pyramids, merged with the Incas as they conquered much of South America.
The monumental site, covering almost 600 hectares of arid land, is considered one of the most important ancient settlements in South America and is considered as important as Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines.
The mummy found by the Ychsмa Project, run by the Uniʋersité Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, which has conducted archaeological excavations at Pachacaмac since 1999.
