Mummies of Guanajuato, Mexico: Museo de las Momias, Bodies Exhumed 1865-1958

mister paria · #1 ● 07-16-2011, 12:09 AM

Guanajuato's mummies did not result from a disaster. They were people buried in Guanajuato City's Panteon de Santa Paula cemetery, largely during the latter half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, with many linked to a cholera epidemic in 1833. Rather than decomposing, the bodies dried in the warm, dry environment of the cemetery's above-ground crypts. Beginning in 1865, the city imposed an annual burial tax; bodies could be exhumed when relatives ceased payment or no surviving family members remained to pay. About nine in ten of the collection were removed under that system. The ordinance remained in force for 95 years before being repealed in 1958. Of the 111 mummies in custody, 59 are publicly exhibited at the Museo de las Momias, opened in 1969 and among the city's most familiar attractions. Although they are usually considered naturally mummified, some studies have identified indications that a small number were at least partially embalmed. Guanajuato City lies about 280 kilometres northwest of Mexico City, in another state.