The Universidad de Tarapaca has a special affiliation with the Archaeological Museum of San Miguel de Azapa, which presents the cultural and anthropological development of the region. Its special attraction is the display of Chinchorro mummies, shown in the photo below. Seeing these mummies was incredible, and the process of mummification is astounding: organs and flesh removed; skeleton reassembled, reinforced with sticks; internal organs replaced with clay and dried plants; body remade with the skin of the deceased, and then covered with dark paste. Some mummies had clay masks showing facial features and/or clay sexual organs. The museo actually has the oldest known mummy in existence, a child found near Arica that dates back to around 5050 B.C. My jaw was dropping while looking at this exhibit; you look at these things in the case and realize they were once people!!! Other parts of the chronological display were also really interesting; for example, the arrival of the Bolivian influence to the area brought the color red into clothing and crafts, as you can see in the other photo. I just loved the way the museum was organized as a visual tour through 10,000 years of history.
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