Chauchilla Cemetery


The most popular excursion from Nazca, this cemetery, 28km south of Nazca, will satisfy any urges you have to see ancient bones, skulls and mummies. Dating back to the Ica-Chincha culture around AD 1000, the mummies were originally scattered haphazardly across the desert, left by ransacking tomb-robbers. Now they are seen carefully rearranged inside a dozen or so tombs, though cloth fragments and pottery and bone shards still litter the ground outside the demarcated trail.

The site is located down an 8km unpaved spur road off the highway. Organized tours last three hours and cost S35 to S120 per person depending on whether you wish to take in other attractions on the way.