Mummies

We mostly just wandered around Guanajuato during our time there. There was so much street performing, and so many plazas with neat little shops and cafes, that it kept us perfectly entertained. The one big attraction we had to check out was the Museo de las Momias (50 pesos per entry), which has a collection of mummies from the area. It was very interesting, starting off with a strange movie showcasing Mexican funeral practices followed by an equally strange collection of...I guess I'd call it death art in the next room. Lots of skulls with works for eyebrows and centipedes crawling out of the jaws...kind of gruesome, although I thought a couple of pieces were moving.

 

The mummies are not what you'd probably expect. They are desicated corpses, something apparently caused by the soil conditions in the area. But none of them are particularly old; I don't think any of them were over 200 years and one died in 1977 and was exhumed in 1982, which shows how fast the mummification process can happen. But the museum is a fascinating meditation on death. There was a stabbing victim, where you could see the knife wound in his chest and the discoloration from the blood staining the skin there; the skin from his cheeks had crumbled away, leaving a Joker like grin that seemed very odd for someone who had been stabbed. There was a drowning victim (the one that died in 1977) with a slight bluish color compared to the other mummies. And there was a mummy with her arms wrapped around her head, whom they believe had been buried alive.

 

There were also an entire room of "little angels", babies who had died for whatever reason. One was in a little dress and hat with her tiny hands carefully interlaced in prayer. I found it surprising how well preserved she was.

Almost all the men had beards, and almost all the beards were still intact. As was a lot of the clothing still. A lot of the mummies just seemed like corpses to me, and a lot were not in particularly good condition. But there was a minority that I found very compelling, in a gruesome way.