Arica, city of eternal spring and Chinchorro mummies

Photos related to my previous post!

The Pacific in the morning before the sun has broken through.

In the background is the Morro or big headland, where a decisive battle in the 1880 War of the Pacific between Chile, Bolivia and Peru took place. More on this in a later post.

An evening walk where we watched giant skua swooping, diving and fishing.

The Chinchorro mummies, behind protective glass in a climate controlled environment.

Mummies with their clay masks, clay body coatings, and tools for extracting molluscs.

Mummies with clay coating, clay face mask and sticks used to reinforce legs visible.

Tiny babies, foetuses, and an embryo on far right. I have read somewhere that a lot of naturally occurring arsenic in the area caused miscarriages and still births. It was very moving to see the care employed on even the tiniest members of the community, seen as important and significant even before birth.

In the ‘Petroglyph park’ outside the museum.

The oasis the Azapa museum is set in, with desert behind.

Salmon!