At a June 11th press conference, representatives from both The Science Center as well as the government of Guanajuato, Mexico came together to announce the upcoming exhibit The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato, which is set to debut on October 10, 2009. Detroit will be fortunate enough to be the first stop of a 3 year tour. The mummies’ arrival came about through negotiations between The Science Center and the government of Guanajuato, Mexico. They are regarded as a cultural treasure by the citizens of Guanajuato who feel a close bond to them—something that its mayor, Eduardo Hicks, hopes that the mummies’ visitors will also feel. The mummies have never left Guanajuato before.

The unique thing about these mummies is that they are completely different from others, such as the Egyptian or South American mummies. First of all, they were regular people and not of high standing like the Egyptian ones. Secondly, nobody is entirely sure how they were mummified. There are various theories: the climate, the water or the stone crypts where they were buried in. Although the explanations are uncertain, what is certain is that anybody laying eyes on them will be fascinated by their mysteries.

According to the site for El Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato, http://www.momiasdeguanajuato.gob.mx, the mummies were dug up around 1870 as the result of a “burial tax.” The dug up bodies were then displayed in a building. Shortly afterwards, people began paying to see the bodies. Back then visiting the bodies might have been motivated by the Mexican culture of death (i.e. Day of The Dead), now it is more motivated by scientific research.

The Science Center’s exhibit will be divided into five different sections.

Author: José A. Rodríguez

Photo: Renée Gonyeau