Famous mummy with severed arm, Mexico City faces criticism

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), Mexico's federal archaeological agency, said that during renovations to the museum where the mummies are on display, the arm of one mummy was severed.

The mummies are on display at the Guanajuato city museum and have been featured at various tourism fairs over the years, including events in the United States, ABC News reported on May 28.

Mummies on display at the Guanajuato city museum, Mexico

INAH criticized Guanajuato officials for being careless in allowing the incident to happen. INAH considers the mummies to be “national property,” and therefore has jurisdiction, while Guanajuato officials say the mummies are a tourist attraction in the city. On May 27, INAH announced that it would request an explanation of the permits and procedures that took place during the museum’s renovation.

"This problem shows that the museum's collections were not moved properly and that appropriate conservation measures were not used. This appears to be due to a lack of knowledge of the appropriate procedures and a lack of training for the personnel responsible for carrying out these tasks," INAH wrote in a statement.

Guanajuato city officials have not yet responded to the incident.

Mummies on display at the Guanajuato city museum, Mexico

INAH is reportedly unhappy that the responsibility for the roughly 100 mummies falls to Guanajuato staff rather than the institute. In part because the mummies were excavated in 1939, before INAH was founded. In 2023, experts from the federal archaeology institute warned that transporting mummies for public display could pose a health risk to the public, with one mummy apparently growing fungus.

Revealing the face of a mummy of a young girl sacrificed during the Inca Empire

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xac-uop-noi-tieng-bi-dut-tay-thanh-pho-mexico-hung-chi-trich-185240528113037882.htm