Mummy Bundles Found at Huaca del Loro

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Almost 100 Years since Julio C. Tello: Research at Huaca del Loro, Nasca, Peru" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Huaca de Loro in Nasca is an important Wari colony in the Nasca region. Two recent field seasons at the site revealed new information on the relationship between Nasca and Wari during the Middle Horizon (650–1000 CE), such as a D-shaped temple and an associated compound indicative of Wari presence and evidence of habitation areas to the east. In this paper, I describe the burial practices of people interred near the D-shaped temple at Huaca del Loro. Four individuals buried in a seated, flexed position wrapped in layers of textiles and cotton batting (mummy bundles, or fardos) were encountered in the associated compound to the north. Elite individuals were usually treated in this way on the coast during the Middle Horizon. Two individuals were buried together in a small circular tomb marked by three posts, while two were outside this round structure and possibly associated with young camelid offerings. X-rays show that one individual buried outside the structure is a child, while the others are likely adults. Additionally, there is some indication that one adult may have been a secondary burial. We hypothesize that the compounds associated with this D-shaped temple were devoted to ancestor worship.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Almost 100 Years since Julio C. Tello: Research at Huaca del Loro, Nasca, Peru   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37492.0