A bioarchaeological perspective on funerary practices in the necropolis of Ancón, Peru

The advancement of bioarchaeological investigation techniques has led to the rediscovery of human remains preserved in 19th-century museum collections. In Modena (Italy), the Civic Museum has partnered with the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at the University of Bologna to study a group of skeletal and mummified remains collected in 1883 from the Ancón Necropolis, an extensive burial ground on the central coast of Peru. The analysis focused on the mummy of a young woman buried in a crouched position. Fragmentary elements of her funerary bundle suggested a late-period burial, which was confirmed by radiocarbon analysis, dating her remains to the late phase of the Late Intermediate Period (14th–15th century). Examination of the body revealed no pathological conditions that could explain her death. Instead, the CT scan showed a fracture of the hyoid bone, indicating asphyxiation by strangulation—an event not previously recorded among individuals buried in the Ancón Necropolis. Tattoos on both forearms suggest she belonged to the local elite. The presence of raw cotton inside her ocular and nasal cavities provides evidence of postmortem funerary rituals. This cotton was inserted after death, once the facial skin had dried and detached from the skull. Further evidence of post-mortem rituals at Ancón comes from two skulls in the same collection, where cinnabar was applied to the face and head of the deceased after the skin had partially desiccated.