UCLA

This thesis is a technical investigation of a pre-Hispanic child mummy bundle from the San Miguel de Azapa region in the Arica Valley of northern Chile. The mummy bundle was accessioned into the collections of the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1966, along with an assortment of separate human bones assumed to originate from the assemblage. No form of technical study has been conducted on the mummy bundle, and its contents and provenance are unconfirmed. With non and minimally invasive scientific analysis techniques, this study investigates the construction and dye composition of the exterior textiles, as well as an optical biopsy of the interior contents. The results confirm the mummy bundle contents, which include the remains of a young child and funerary artifacts characteristic of the Late Intermediate Period (900 – 1450 CE) in Arica, Chile. Additionally, the origin of the separate human bones accessioned with the mummy bundle is established.