The Nazca Mummies

Since 2017, a series of small, three-fingered, elongated-skulled bodies said to come from the Nazca region of Peru have been promoted as possible non-human beings. The claims have run through paid streaming specials, laboratory reports commissioned by promoters, and two appearances before Mexico's Congress. Peruvian forensic authorities have declared examined specimens to be constructed figures assembled from human and animal bones. No specimen has been made freely available to independent science, and no claim about them has passed peer review.

The story began in 2017 when the paranormal streaming site Gaia released "Unearthing Nazca," featuring a body called "Maria" and smaller three-fingered figures, sourced through Peruvian intermediaries and promoted by Mexican broadcaster Jaime Maussan, French investigator Thierry Jamin's group, and Peruvian academics at the University of Ica. Skeptical researchers and the World Congress on Mummy Studies condemned the project early, warning it likely involved looted archaeological material.

In September 2023, Maussan presented two small specimens, "Clara" and "Mauricio," at a hearing of Mexico's Chamber of Deputies, testifying under oath that they were not part of "our terrestrial evolution." The event drew global coverage and widespread scientific criticism. In January 2024, Peruvian prosecutors and forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada announced that two similar figures seized at Lima customs were dolls assembled from paper, glue, metal, and human and animal bones. Promoters responded that the seized items were not the same bodies. A second Mexican congressional session in November 2023 featured physicians who had examined specimens and vouched for their authenticity. Promotional events, new lab claims, and disputed fingerprint and DNA reports have continued through 2025, including claims that the hands show non-human fingerprint patterns, and counter-analyses dismissing them.

Maussan is the principal promoter. Jois Mantilla, Jamin, and University of Ica figures have championed the bodies. Estrada and Peru's Ministry of Culture lead the official rejection. Peru has pursued the specimens as trafficked cultural property.

The promoters' evidence consists of commissioned X-rays, CT scans, and DNA sequencing runs, presented outside peer review. The bodies themselves remain controlled by promoters and Peruvian custodians aligned with them. Independent examinations of related seized figures found construction. Legitimate Nazca-region mummies with elongated skulls (from cultural cranial modification) are common in Peruvian archaeology, providing raw material.

Peru's Ministry of Culture and prosecutors treat the matter as looting and fraud. Mexico's Congress hosted the presentations without endorsing them. No scientific body has validated any specimen.

Forensic experts describe the small figures as assembled dolls and the larger bodies as modified genuine mummies, with three-fingered hands constructed by rearranging bones. Skeptics note the pattern: paid media first, science never, and specimens guarded from independent custody. Promoters respond that critics have not examined the primary bodies and that their scans show articulated, unmodified anatomy. The dispute is unresolvable on present terms because the evidence remains privately held.