The Vatican returned to Peru three pre-Columbian mummies, which were donated to the 1925 Vatican Universal Exposition and have since been kept in the Vatican Ethnological Museum Anima Mundi.
The repatriation of human remains was made official on October 17 through an agreement between the President of the Vatican Government, Fernando Vergéz, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, César Landa.
“Thanks to the good mood of the Vatican and Pope Francis, the return was carried out as it should have been. I have come to sign the agreement. In the following weeks, the mummies will arrive in Lima”, said the minister during a press conference.
Mr. Landa explained that Peru and the Pope “share the feeling that these mummies are human beings and not objects.”
“Human remains that should be buried with dignity in the country where they come from, in Peru,” he said.
Chancellor @CesarLanda0 signed today with Pdte. of the Governor of the Vatican City State, Card. Fernando Vergez, an act agreeing to the repatriation of three mummies of Peruvian origin, which had been held in the Vatican Museums since 1925. pic.twitter.com/5bVyGcH8Bs
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru
(@ChancelleriaPeru) October 17, 2022
(@ChancelleriaPeru) In 2015, the Vatican informed Peru’s Ministry of Culture that it had the three mummies in its collection. Afterwards, there was close coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture to facilitate their repatriation.
According to a technical report carried out in 2017 by specialists of the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru, after examining the images sent by the Vatican museum, the mummies were identified as two adults and a child, of the gender and age of indefinite.
As for their origin, what is known so far is that the mummies were found at an altitude of 3,000 meters in the Peruvian Andes, along the course of the Ucayali River, one of the country’s main waterways.
The bodies were brought by Franciscan missionaries to Vatican City in 1925 for the Vatican Universal Exposition. However, according to the Vatican, the mummies were not put on display but were kept until they were delivered to Peru.
Peruvian government announced that the repatriation of the mummies will take place at the end of October and then they will be protected in the National Museum of Anthropology, Archeology and History of Peru to continue their study.
After adequate conservation, the Government says, they will be transferred to a museum in the city they came from.
Peruvian Foreign Minister reported that Peru has received archaeological material from the United States, Chile and other countries and anticipates that it will continue to do so.
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