The prevalence of exhuming mummified bodies in Peru; What is the root of the belief that human ancestors are extraterrestrial?
Antiquities, including human remains, have a high price on the black market. According to UNESCO and the World Customs Organization (WCO), smuggling of cultural goods has increased worldwide since the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the selection report, quoted by Euronews, Leandro Rivera is one of the people who was convicted during the excavation of ancient graves.
He said he stumbled upon a cave in the remote Nazca region of Peru that contained hundreds of artifacts dating back to before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the early 16th century.
The artifacts he unearthed include human bodies with elongated heads and a three-toed creature.
The plateau of Peru is famous for the existence of landforms known as “Nazca lines” with drawings of birds and other animals, which are best viewed from the sky and at a distance from the earth's surface. These ancient geoglyphs have fascinated anthropologists for a long time and are of great interest to those who believe in extraterrestrial beings.
In addition to these topographies, the Nazca desert is also very important for archaeologists because of its salt flats and untouched remains of humans and animals. These remains have deepened our understanding of ancient cultures today and may have attracted illegal diggers.
Leandro Rivera was convicted in 2022 for trespassing on public monuments and excavating antiquities. He received a four-year suspended sentence and a fine of about 20,000 Peruvian soles (US$5,190), while the maximum sentence could have been eight years in prison.
His tampering with these antiquities came to the fore when two strange mummies emerged from Mexico's congressional hearings last year. This meeting was held on the topic of UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
At that time, a Mexican journalist considered these bodies as signs of extraterrestrial life, but his claim was immediately rejected by scientists.
The boom of the black market in cyberspace
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Rivera said that 200 sets of these remains were removed from the cave and some of these bodies were smuggled to France, Spain and Russia.
“The looting of these works has not stopped, and we need more cooperation from local governments and local authorities to stop these illegal acts,” said Evelyn Centurion, head of the restoration department of Peru's Ministry of Cultural Heritage.
Antique stores that used to be face-to-face have now switched to online sales. In other words, black market sellers took advantage of the opportunity provided by online privacy and resorted to encrypted channels.
On the other hand, understaffing cultural sites in remote areas, especially those previously protected by local communities, is at risk of looting.
Is it true that the ancestors of the Peruvian people are extraterrestrial?
Guido Lombardi, an anthropologist and specialist in mummy studies at the University of Caetano Heredia in Peru, said he had received anonymous messages on WhatsApp offering looted objects, including centuries-old clay figurines, for sale.
He said that contrary to what some theorists try to tell us about the extraterrestrial ancestors of the people of this region, it is not true and “no one was born with this shape and image.”
Lombardi believes that because some believers in extraterrestrials do not have a proper understanding of the social traditions of the time before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, this issue has caused abuses in this field.
One of these traditions was the common practice of shaping the skulls of children by tying their heads, which is why the heads of these corpses are more elongated than usual.
Cultivation
Preventing looted items from leaving Peru is challenging. Peru shares borders with five countries and has a total of 27 border crossings, and it is best to educate local communities and travelers about the importance of these objects.
At Lima's international airport, experts from Peru's Ministry of Culture use X-ray scanners to try to prevent suspicious cultural objects from leaving, but passengers “in most cases say they were not aware of the nature of these objects, and as a result, no criminal action is taken against them.” And only these goods are seized and delivered to the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.
Centurion of Peru's Ministry of Culture said that bringing smuggled objects back to the country requires extensive diplomacy as well as documentation to prove their origin and cultural significance.
