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Peru’s creepy mummies

January 2, 2019 | Michael Turtle | 6 Comments

WEIRD CEMETERY

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

The sun is setting by the time I leave the desert near Nazca.

The sunsets in this part of Peru dominate the sky and the land – as the early evening approaches, it’s as though a blind of black is being pulled down on an orange window until the last sliver at the horizon is covered. The shadows on the sand grow longer until they are consumed by the dark.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

You don’t want to still be out here in the Nazca deserts when the light is gone. You can’t be too sure what the mummies do at night.

At the Chauchilla Cemetery, the dead have survived for hundreds of years. Almost two thousand years, in some cases. People were first buried here in about 200 AD and the burials continued for up to 700 years.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

When you visit Chauchilla Cemetery yourself, though, it’s not just a field of graves. Don’t imagine headstones or closed tombs.

What you find are the bodies themselves. Skeletons – many still with hair or even some skin – wrapped in clothes, staring at you from the sunken eye sockets that seem more alive than they should for people born a thousand years ago.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

The way they are posed, they appear to be sitting patiently in the corner of their sunken pits, their subterranean domains.

Some are looking up towards the visitors standing at the edge, others seem to be focused on the earthen pots and other belongings in front of them.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

They are all clothed, their bodies hidden beneath material that has turned to rags – but dressed realistically enough that you wonder whether they chose their own outfits.

Are the bowls on the ground in front of them their last supper or their next meal?

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

The preservation is remarkable and it’s due to two main reasons.

The first is the way that the bodies were prepared for burial. They were covered in embroidered cotton and then painted with resin before being put into tombs made of mud brick. This kept out insects and slowed bacteria that might have destroyed the bodies faster.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

But another factor – an important one – is the dry climate here in the Peruvian desert. Bodies do not decay in the same way they do in most of the world.

In these tombs, the flesh lived on. The souls? Well, who knows for sure.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

The Chauchilla Cemetery is part of the heritage of the Nazca culture, which was based in this region of Peru from about 100 BC to 800 AD.

The most famous legacy of these people are the Nazca Lines, the enormous shapes and patterns that were created in the desert and are best viewed from a plane above. That’s when you can really see the animals and images hundreds of metres wide in the flat land below.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

A trip to see the mummies is a worthwhile trip when you’re here, though. Most tourists just come for the day, take a flight to see the lines, and leave. But those pictures in the desert are just an ancient remnant of a long lost culture.

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

Chauchilla Cemetery, Nazca, Peru

These mummies… well, you could say the same thing. But perhaps there’s a stronger connection, a more spiritual one, something we can’t quite define.

Look into their eyes and tell me there’s not still some life in these bodies.

Peru Travel Guide

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PERU?

See my Peru Travel Guide

To help you plan your trip to Peru:

  • The best things to do in Peru – a complete list!
  • What you need to know about visiting Machu Picchu
  • A wonderful alternative to the crowded Inca Trail trek
  • The story behind the Incan city of Cusco
  • Why Colca Canyon is one of Peru’s special natural sights
  • The incredible Nazca Lines and what they might mean
  • See this ancient mud city before it’s gone!
  • Hiking in the Andes from Huaraz
  • The site of the first civilisation in the Americas
  • An ancient tribe of sex and drugs
  • What to expect in the second-largest city of Arequipa

Let someone else do the work for you:

You may also want to consider taking a Peru tour, rather than organising everything on your own. It’s also a nice way to have company if you are travelling solo.

I am a ‘Wanderer’ with G Adventures and they have great tours in Peru.

You could consider:

  • The Inca Journey (10 days)
  • Absolute Peru (21 days)
  • National Geographic Journey (16 days)

When I travel internationally, I always get insurance. It’s not worth the risk, in case there’s a medical emergency or another serious incident. I recommend you use World Nomads for your trip.

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. Janeen @ Green Global Travel |

    February 1, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    Reply

    That is definitely creepy, but a great way to learn about what life was like for some Peruvians in the past. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Jade Johnston |

    May 7, 2016 at 1:21 pm

    Reply

    I had heard of the lines but never heard of the mummies. Love this though. I will definitely make sure not to miss the mummies when i eventually get to visit the lines.

  3. northierthanthou |

    March 29, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Reply

    Interesting images. It was my understanding the Spanish went after the mummies at some point post-conquest. Is there any particular reason these were left alone?

    • Michael Turtle |

      April 2, 2017 at 10:53 am

      Reply

      I’m not sure, to be honest. But the last mummies were buried here about 600 years before the Spanish arrived – maybe they just never found out about it. There wasn’t a whole lot of colonial development around Nazca.

  4. Eileen Winters |

    April 11, 2017 at 12:43 am

    Reply

    I’m doing the Peru Hop Bus and they spend only one day in Nazca before heading to Arequipa. I’d really like to see this cemetary so I can hop off. I wondered where you stayed or if you stayed in Nazca. Love your blog. Read lots of your posts. Your photos are amazing. do you use your phone or a camera?

    • Michael Turtle |

      April 13, 2017 at 4:23 am

      Reply

      Hi Eileen. I stayed overnight in Nazca. There are a few hostels and budget hotels there. I can’t remember the name of the place I stayed, I’m sorry (I didn’t book in advance and can’t find my notes from that trip at the moment). I organised the tour to the cemetery with my hotel and we went in the afternoon after doing the flight in the morning.
      And thanks for the kind words about the photos. These ones were with a camera – a Canon 600D.

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This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.

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