Chauchilla Cemetery is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

that contains prehispanic mummified human remains and archeological artifacts, located south of the city of

Nazca Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished i ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

History

The cemetery was discovered in the 1920s, but had not been used since the 9th century AD. The cemetery includes many important burials over a period of 600 to 700 years. The start of the interments was in about 200 AD. It is important as a source of archaeology to

Nazca culture The Nazca culture (also Nasca) was the archaeological culture that flourished from beside the arid, southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley.''The Nasca'' by Helaine Silverman and Dona ...

. The cemetery has been extensively plundered by ''huaqueros'' (grave robbers) who have left human bones and pottery scattered around the area. Similar local cemeteries have been damaged to a greater extent. The site has been protected by

Peruvian law The law of Peru includes a constitution and legislation. The law of Perú is part of the Roman-Germanic tradition that concedes the utmost importance to the written law, therefore, statutes known as leyes are the primary source of the law. Cons ...

since 1997 and tourists pay 8 soles (PEN) to take the two-hour tour of this ancient

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

. The site is by the Poroma riverbed and can be accessed via a dirt road from the

Panamerican Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in t ...

. In 1997, the majority of the scattered bones and plundered pottery were restored to the tombs.

Preservation of the bodies

The bodies are so remarkably preserved due mainly to the dry climate in the Peruvian Desert but the funeral rites were also a contributing factor. The bodies were clothed in embroidered cotton and then painted with a resin and kept in purpose-built

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immuremen ...

s made from mud bricks. The resin is thought to have kept out insects and slowed bacteria trying to feed on the bodies. The nearby site of Estaquería may provide clues to the remarkable preservation of the numerous bodies in these cemeteries. At that site, archeologists found wooden pillars initially thought to have been used for astronomical sightings. However, it is now believed that the posts were used to dry bodies in a mummification process. This may account for the high degree of preservation seen in thousand-year-old bodies which still have hair and the remains of soft tissue, such as skin.

In popular culture

Chauchilla Cemetery is a prominent setting in '' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''. Though not called by name in the film, the cemetery is explicitly identified in the screenplay, promotional materials, and merchandise. This fictionalized version of the cemetery features a number of embellishments, including mask-wearing Nazcan guards and a hidden, underground burial chamber accessible through the barrows. The cemetery is depicted as being built on a promontory overlooking the Nazca Valley, offering the characters a view of the famous

Nazca Lines The Nazca Lines are a group of geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people making depressions or shallow incisions in the desert floor, removing pebbles and le ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauchilla Cemetery Cemeteries in Peru Buildings and structures in Ica Region Tourist attractions in Ica Region Archaeological sites in Peru

History

Preservation of the bodies

In popular culture

See also

References