Among the Paracas people of ancient Peru, masks were worn not just by the living, but also by the dead!

This mask was found wrapped inside a mummy bundle--a dead person wrapped in layers of cloth called mantles, and buried in the Peruvian desert almost 2,000 years ago.

Look closely at the mask.
How many faces do you see? How many eyes? Why do you think the mask has eye holes, when the person wearing it couldn't see out of them? What shapes and colors do you see on the mask? What animals, plants, or landforms do they look like?

Why do you think the Paracas put masks on people after they died? What powers could the mask give someone?

A mummy bundle is a dead body wrapped in the desert. The Paracas people buried their dead in mummy bundles.
 

A mantle is a cloth used to cover or wrap the dead.