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Macabre Tourists Flock to Mummy Museum

Mexican exhibit includes 56 fully preserved corpses

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 18, 2009 10:22 AM CDT
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(Newser) – A Mexican museum tells the story of the local mining industry with an unusual exhibit: 56 mummified corpses. The bodies, from as early as the mid-1800s, were removed from crypts that had been tightly sealed, allowing the bodies to dry intact. Elsewhere mummies might be considered freaky, but in Guanajuato, the dead are a major draw, reports the Los Angeles Times.

"These are the best mummies in the world," a museum staffer said of the nude corpses on display—one stabbed in the ribs, another grasping her face as she was buried alive. They offer perspective on a mining industry that dates to the days of imperial Spain and drew immigrants from as far as China. But even visitors with strong stomachs recoil at the mummified babies on display. "I like morbid stuff," said one, "but I was surprised."

A mummy is displayed in the Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008.
A mummy is displayed in the Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Daniel Jayo)
The Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, displays mummies more than 100 years old that were naturally preserved by the mineral-rich soil of this former silver- and gold-mining region.
The Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, displays mummies more than 100 years old that were naturally preserved by the mineral-rich soil of this former silver- and gold-mining region.   (AP Photo/Daniel Jayo)
The Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, displays century-old mummies naturally preserved by the mineral-rich soil of this former mining region.
The Mummy Museum in Guanajuato, Mexico, displays century-old mummies naturally preserved by the mineral-rich soil of this former mining region.   (AP Photo/Daniel Jayo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
sache
Mar 18, 2009 5:37 AM CDT
This is sick. Yuck.

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mining • Mexico • museum • death • mummy • Guanajuato

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