Mummy Bundle "Mask"

200–1 BCE

Peru, South Coast, Ica Valley, Ocucaje site, Paracas style

Medium

cotton: plain warp-faced cloth, painted

Measurements

Overall: 48.3 x 18.3 cm (19 x 7 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Norweb Collection 1940.520

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Location

232 Andean

Did You Know?

These masks fall into two categories, those with only a face and those with a full-bodied figure.

Description

The Paracas people buried their dead in pear-shaped mummy bundles, created by carefully wrapping the seated human body in layers of garments and other textiles. Sometimes a painted cloth was placed on the outer layer at the top of the bundle, as though it served as the bundle’s face, head, or “mask.” Some cloths were painted with masklike faces, although others—such as this example—feature complete figures, which may be mythological beings with supernatural appendages.