Chauchilla Cemetery is a cemetery that contains prehispanic mummified human remains and archeological artifacts, located 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the city of Nazca in Peru.
The cemetery is associated with the Nazca culture. The burials started c. 200 CE and continued until the 9th century.
The bodies were clothed in embroidered cotton and then painted with a resin and kept in purpose-built tombs made from mud bricks.
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 resin is thought to have kept out insects and slowed bacteria trying to feed on the bodies.
Panorama of Chauchilla Cemetery |
Plan of Chauchilla Cemetery |
Tomb 1 |
Tomb 2 |
Tomb 3 |
Tomb 4 |
Tomb 7 |
Tomb 8 |
Tomb 10 |
Tomb 11 |
Tomb 12 |
Leaving Chauchilla Cemetery |
See also
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