AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

The Andean cultural development that took place during prehispanic times has been one of the most successful of human history. A range of specialization levels were reached for different productive activities, among them, the preparation of mummy bundles. Bundling procedures were progressively developed and officialized within the Paracas, Wari and Inca. Precisely, during Inca times, in the Peruvian Central Coast, big mummy bundles were being produced, some of which even reached two meters high and 70 kilos, reflecting the high technological level reached by the Andean societies regarding their funerary activities. These characteristics difficult the preservation procedures developed by the archaeological museums in Peru, turning these bundle’s conservation into a challenge. Considering this problem, a research was conducted on 20 Inca mummy bundles of big dimensions and weight. The task was to know their structural features and body orientations, using CT scans as support. The research’s objective was to design bundling systems that would allow to solve deformation problems caused by manipulation, transportation and storing which are frequent in this kind of bundles. The results were the formulation of two bundling systems: the bundling system 3A, which is focused on mummy bundles holding a horizontal position, and the bundling system 3B, for bundles in vertical position. For this research, we used Austenitic stainless steel for the supporting structure and polymers as filling and non-sewed cloth to isolate and mitigation. This kind of stainless steel was chosen because it has low concentrations of carbon y high levels of chromium and nickel, providing a strong protection against corrosion. The prototypes were utilized as packages for the twenty mummy bundles selected for this research, obtaining optimal results. This proposal has allowed to reduce the risks caused by physical stress during manipulation, transportation and storing. Additionally, these prototypes provide several possibilities for different uses, such as structures for museum pieces, controlled atmospheres, among others.