Life And Death In Guanajuato
Guanajuato left the deepest impression on me among all the places we visited on the recent trip to Central Mexico. This colonial city is packed with frantic energy and passion, from the colorful houses on the hillside to the passionate Estudiantes groups. Guanajuato would be the outgoing, rambunctious bachelor if San Miguel de Allende were an upper-class lady. But despite all the marvelous qualities I find endearing, Guanajuato receives relatively few foreign visitors. However, the city is especially popular with domestic tourists. Many are drawn here by the history and the city’s most unusual attraction: Mummies of Guanajuato.
Unlike their Egyptian counterpart, the mummies of Guanajuato are naturally occurring phenomena and entirely accidental. The story went that there was a cholera outbreak back in the mid-19th century here in central Mexico. To contain the epidemic, the local authority was quick to bury the dead in the city’s public cemetery. Because of the high mortality rate, the cemetery filled up in just a matter of a few years. As it was common practice then, the burial was considered temporary, for five to ten years. After this period, relatives of the dead must provide a proper tax payment for the “perpetual burial” rights.
When the gravediggers at Panteón Santa Paula began exhuming the bodies of those who owed the burial tax, they were surprised to find out that great numbers of these bodies had been mummified. At the time, the mummified remains were stored in a nearby crypt. Curious locals and visitors would pay a few pesos to grave keepers to take a peek at the gradually growing mummy collection. It was even said that visitors would break off pieces of the mummies to be kept as souvenirs. Just imagine that!
El Museo de las Momias
The government of Guanajuato eventually set up a small “state of the art” museum, El Museo de las Momias, along the backside of the cemetery. In finding a proper home, the mummies are now properly protected in a controlled environment and behind the safety of viewing glass. The museum’s collections of mummies number more than a hundred today, with about 59 of them on permanent display. From the exterior, the museum building certainly does not look like much. But rest assured, the popularity of this museum is undisputed. Brian and I came to the museum mid-afternoon, and there were already more than a hundred people in line. After staring at the slow-moving line for five minutes, we decided it was not worth waiting under the sun for 2 hours. Deflated, we returned the next morning to try to beat the crowd.
Beautiful view from the front steps of Panteón Santa Paula.
The museum is located just outside of Centro Histórico. It is a rather pleasant walk along the main drag of the city. However, it was a short, steep section just before approaching the museum. Before we headed back to the center, we took the opportunity to visit Panteón Santa Paula. The public cemetery is open but often overlooked by visitors. After all, this was where all the mummies originated. Mexican cemeteries are always a joy to visit as they are more festive than those in Europe and Asia. I was very surprised by just how serene the cemetery was, especially compared to the long line at the museum.
I wonder what it would be like to have your ancestors buried here. I assume the family members must be at least curious about whether their loved ones have become mummies. After all, modern scientists still couldn’t work out the exact conditions that caused the mummification at this cemetery. It must also be comforting that the practice of “reburial” has been banned by the government. So, it would be very unlikely that additional mummies would come from this cemetery soon.
In The Face of Death
As promised, we arrived at the museum first thing the next day. At 9:30 am, about two dozen people were already in line before us. But luckily, the line moved relatively quickly at this hour. After getting the admission ticket (and a photo pass), it was only a ten-minute wait before entering the exhibition hall. Right at the entrance, the curator sets the tone by pronouncing that the museum will provide a “unique and intimate experience with life’s most profound mystery.” After all, death is an inevitable stage of life for all beings, and the mystery of death makes us feel alive: “Honoring death is a way of giving meaning to life.”
The museum is laid out in a rather row of gallery space. Upon immediate entry, we were greeted by a glass case of four mummies. Propped against the back wall at a slight angle, the mummies are positioned at just about our eye levels. The most striking things about the mummies of Guanajuato are their facial expressions of horror and despair. To most of us, it was as if most were screaming at the spectators. However, researchers indicate that the jaw muscle, the temporomandibular joint, is fairly loose. Morticians sometimes use needles or thread to prevent the “release of jaws.” In the Victorian age, it was common for the dead to wear a “chin strap” strap to prevent the corpse from “screaming” in the afterlife.
Based on the current scientific understanding, several factors contribute to natural mummification. In addition to the arid climate and high salt content of the clay at the cemetery, all the mummies underwent an embalming process, which was not abnormal then. For the most part, those on display came from the lowest socioeconomic background of Guanajuato. After all, these are individuals whose families had no means to pay for the required burial tax. Despite being a public cemetery, the record-keeping was not as good as expected. Throughout the museum, many of the mummies were given names by the curators. However, it seems like very few have a full name.
The mummy of Dr. Remigio LeRoy.
Perhaps the most famous mummy is that of Dr. Remigio LeRoy. Known as the “French doctor,” he was buried in 1860 and was the first mummy exhumed in Guanajuato five years later. It is fascinating that it took merely five years for the mummification process to be completed. His body is arguably better preserved than any others. In particular, his facial hair and outfits are in remarkable condition. The mummies are a perfect time capsule. From fashion to hairstyle, it provides an intimate look into life from over 150 years ago. Compared to Egyptian mummies, the life-like quality of these mummies humanizes them, but it also makes them more terrifying to most of us.
Dr. LeRoy was not only the first mummies discovered in Guanajuato but also one of only four foreigners in the museum collection. Not far from Dr. LeRoy was a female mummy who had been given the nickname “China Girl.” She was given such a nickname because of certain oriental details on her dress. I understand that no research has been done on her ethnicity. Since so little is known about the life of these mummies, it was difficult to discern fact from fiction as we walked through the museum.
The “China Girl” in her original coffin.
In the middle of a gallery was an exceedingly large flat glass case that contained three mummies. The tour guide explained in Spanish that one was hanged for rape, and the other was shot dead. The third mummy was found lying on her stomach in her coffin with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Because of that, it is logically concluded that she was buried alive by mistake, which was not too uncommon back in the day. Without a detailed historical background, visitors like ourselves were naturally drawn to the goriest details the museum could offer.
Admittedly, I was very much drawn to all the anatomical oddities with all the mummies. For instance, observing how each part of human anatomy “survived” the mummification process was fascinating. It came as a surprise that the softer human tissues like eyeballs or tongues were preserved. It is almost impossible to put myself in their position and just exactly what part of my body may persevere if I met a similar fate. Looking at death in the eyes, I oddly felt a sense of peace. No matter what happens in life, all the vanities of living would be ultimately moot.
While I managed to find peace in viewing the mummies, I experienced difficulty viewing half a dozen infant mummies on display. I always wonder how any religion or divinity could adequately justify the death of children, let alone infants. As was the custom of the time, most infants were often dressed as angels at the time of burial. It was widely believed that the outfit would help the child to ascend to heaven. There is an unnamed infant dressed in a homespun cassock, a rosary, and a broom. It referenced Saint Martin de Porres, a Peruvian saint known as the “saint with the broom.” It was as curious of sight as it was chilling.
Regarding infants, Guanajuato is well known to have the smallest and youngest mummy in the world. In the collection was a mummy of a pregnant woman. It was discovered later that she had a four-month-old fetus inside her. Today, the woman and her unborn child are displayed side by side. In a sense, the mother and her unborn child would be together for eternity. Right or wrong, they have since become the “star attraction” of the museum.
The Matter of Ethics
It is, of course, a little uncomfortable to speak of actual human remains as an exhibit and attraction. In this age of political correctness and consent, one could not visit the Museum of Mummies without raising ethical questions about displaying human remains as objects of curiosity. To date, I have not read about any effort to locate the surviving descendants of these mummies. I am not sure whether there are worries that such efforts could create legal complications for the museum. I heard from a random podcast that the newest mummy and infant in the museum was unearthed as recently as 1999. Supposedly, the infant's mother would visit the museum periodically to see her child. Although that is a nice story, I have not found the primary source of that tale.
Certainly, Guanajuato is not alone in exhibiting human remains. Nearly all major Western art museums hold at least a few Egyptian mummies, and plenty of capuchin crypts are open for visitors across Europe. What distinguishes Guanajuato from others is the age of these mummies. Because of how recent these mummies are, you can’t help feeling empathy and a personal connection with them. The closest comparison may be the Bodies: The Exhibition, a controversial venture accused of alleged provenance of the bodies.
“Man must open himself to death if he wants to open himself to life. The cult of life is also the cult of death. A civilization that denies death ends up denying life.”
How do I feel about the mummies of Guanajuato? Many accuse the government of capitalizing on these mummies for financial gains. While I think there is truth in that, Mexico also has a celebrative and humorous attitude toward death that is distinct from the Western culture. In particular, the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) is particularly well-known and has been placed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. I do take solace that the majority of visitors to the museum are Mexican. For the most part, visitors seemed to be quite respectable. Of course, that is not to say that appropriate behavior could be guaranteed or enforced.
