Museo Santuarios Andinos, Archaeological museum operated by Universidad Católica de Santa María in Arequipa, Peru.
The Museo Santuarios Andinos, run by the Universidad Católica de Santa María, opened on 5 December 1996 and occupies a building in downtown Arequipa. Its five rooms display over 70 ceramic, textile, metal, organic and bioarchaeological objects about 550 years old, from Inca capacocha rituals, including the mummies Juanita, Urpicha and Sarita.
The museum was created on 5 December 1996 to conserve the finds of the Santuarios de Altura del Sur Andino project, begun in 1980 by archaeologists José Chávez and Johan Reinhard in the mountains of southern Peru. In November 2020 Peru's Ministry of Culture declared it a National Cultural Heritage Site.
The exhibition shows religious practices through metal offerings, textiles, pottery, and human remains that reveal insights into Andean societies. These objects come from mountain sanctuaries and tell the story of ritual traditions.
The museum is run by the Universidad Católica de Santa María and spreads across five exhibition rooms, so allow time to move through them in order. Guided tours are available for those who want them. The mummies are kept in climate-controlled display cases, which limits viewing to short, timed looks.
The mummy on display is Juanita, found in 1995 on the Ampato volcano by archaeologists José Chávez and Johan Reinhard. The museum also holds the mummies Urpicha and Sarita, the latter recovered from the Sara Sara volcano.
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