Famous Mummified Bodies From Around the World

MUMMIES OF GUANAJUATO—EL MUSEO DE LAS MOMIAS, GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

For about a hundred years starting in the 19th century, a local tax in Guanajuato was levied on burials. If the family couldn’t pay the tax three years in a row, the corpse would be dug up. The climate of the area naturally mummified many of the bodies, and the unclaimed ones were stored in a nearby building. Pretty quickly, graveyard caretakers started charging for admission to see the mummies, which range in age from infants to the elderly. Today, the collection holds 111 mummies.