Mummified body, Peruvian, 800-1400

Mummified body with legs bent in ‘lotus position’, with feathered headdress, scarf, and net, tattoos present on left forearm and hand, Peruvian, likely central coast region, 800-1400

This preserved body was purchased on behalf of Henry Wellcome’s Historical Medical Museum from a London auction house in 1928 as part of a collection of five 'Peruvian mummies'. Further research is needed to confirm this individual’s cultural and geographical origins, but their burial position – stretched out lying down, with arms at the side and the legs folded with heels against the pelvis – is highly unusual. The head is adorned with a feathered headdress with finely woven and embroidered detail, and a round net is knotted to the right wrist with a cord.

In 2024, infrared photography revealed intricate tattoos on the person's left forearm and hand that are largely invisible to the naked eye. The motifs of fish, birds and figures are consistent with tattoos found on mummified human remains from Peru’s central coast. They would have taken considerable time and effort to achieve, indicating that they had strong spiritual and cultural significance to the people who created them.