Thousands of Inca Mummies Unearthed in Peru
Remains of Inca Culture Lie Beneath Shantytown

Listen to Allison Aubrey's report.

A feathered headdress suggests this man was a member of the Inca elite. Photo: Ira Block © National Geographic Society

More than 50,000 artifacts have been uncovered at an Inca burial site in Peru, including this figure. Photo: Ira Block © National Geographic Society

April 17, 2002 -- The National Geographic Society today announced the discovery of more than 2,000 Inca mummies at a site near Lima, Peru. It's the largest and best-preserved collection of remains ever discovered from a single time period during the Inca rule. More than 10,000 Inca may have been buried at the sprawling 20-acre site between 1480 and 1535.

A few years ago, Peruvian archaeologist Guillermo Cock made the half-hour drive from downtown Lima to a shantytown on the outskirts of the city. It's home to 1,200 families who left the Peruvian highlands in search of better lives. They settled on land the government had identified as an Inca burial sight. Cock brought them bad news: The Peruvian government had authorized him to excavate. That announcement made him very unpopular.

The residents tried to get rid of him, telling him that unearthing mummies would bring bad luck. But Cock knew he had to get to work immediately. The residents had been dumping raw sewage, which would soon destroy everything buried underneath. So he won their trust by offering them jobs and paying top wages to begin digging up the ancient remains.

Cock and the shantytown residents uncovered a breathtaking array of Inca remains. Bodies, sometimes in groups of six or seven, had been bundled together in cotton sacks. In one bag an Inca nobleman, adorned in a feather headdress and jewelry, was packed together with what are thought to be common people. The dead were found buried with fully intact ceramic bowls, woven baskets, cooked foods and more precious objects such as silver and copper bowls, intricately woven tapestries and tools -- a testament to the skills and sophistication of the Inca. For All Things Considered, NPR's Allison Aubrey has the story.

In Depth

 Browse for other NPR stories about mummies.

Researchers recently discovered that ancient Egyptians prepared mummies in ways much more sophisticated than previously thought. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports.

Take a Radio Expedition to the Lost Temples of Peru.

Other Resources

• See more photos and learn about Inca culture at NationalGeographic.com.

• More mummies from National Geographic.

• Learn more about Inca culture.

• Inca links on the Web.

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