The necropolis of Cauchilla is located some thirty km south of Nazca.

It is said that the oldest graves date back to some 2000 years ago, while the most recent ones are 1100 years old. For centuries hundreds of mummies rested in peace here until grave robbers discovered the site. One can still observe scattered bones in the desert.

The mummies, amongst them also babies and children are seated at a depth of 1 to 2 meters in their original grave, surrounded by walls built with mud bricks.

The Nazca desert is one of the driest in the world. This partly explains why the Cauchilla mummies are in such an amazing state of conservation. Their embroidered cotton clothes are very well preserved. Same for their hair, which sometimes reach two meters long. Another reason for the good conservation is the mummification itself: the bodies were covered with a kind of resin that repelled insects and slowed the decomposition process of bacteria.

A dozen graves, containing one to three mummies can be visited