Mummy Bundle "Mask"

About this artwork

This mummy bundle was likely found on mummy bundles made of a seated human body carefully wrapped in textiles. In some instances, the Paracas people placed a painted cloth like these at the top of the bundle. The cloth was padded on the back so it curved outward like a face, and the tress-like yarns (unwoven warps) at the upper edge were arranged around a solid cotton disk that, in turn, was wrapped with a headband. The cloths, then, seem to have functioned as the bundle’s face or mask.