ABSTRACT
The display of human bodies in museums amazes and fascinates the public and ensures mass public attendance. However, over time, human bodies' perception of archaeological origin has varied, both in museums and in scientific research. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a depersonalized relationship predominated in Chile, similar to other parts of the world, with little concern for human remains, the body or body parts. As such they were treated as just another object within the collections and subjects for craniometric analyses that were dominating science at the time. Later, between 1960 and 1990, a biomedical viewpoint of the bodies dominated, and analyses sought to obtain objective data for science through autopsy as the preferred method of analysis in mummified bodies. Since the 1990s, new paradigms have been adopted and developed in Chile and Latin America giving new meaning to bodies as human beings, thus shifting the approach from their embodiment as a social subject. Within this context, the National Museum of Natural History of Chile, an institution that originated from the creation of the nation-state, now has the challenge to work more directly with different communities (indigenous and non-indigenous) and with a new standard of social and ethical considerations for human bodies. The museum no longer exhibits human remains and instead has replaced them with hyper-realistic replicas of artificially mummified and skeletonized Chinchorro bodies, created through computed tomography. The process consists of the creation of 3D models, their printing and subsequent artistic post-processing. With this, an itinerant exhibition called “Chinchorro Transcending Death” has been developed which has traveled to different cities in Chile, with very positive reviews that highlight the creation of replicas as part of the most positive aspect of the exhibition. With this, the scientific investigation of bodies is highlighted as part of historical reconstruction, beyond the arrival of Europeans and writing.
