Ica Regional Museum

The Museo Regional de Ica, named for Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins, is modest in size and unusually strong in content, because it draws on the archaeology of one of the richest regions in Peru. The Paracas material includes embroidered mantles whose colours survive because the desert preserved them, along with the cranial deformation and trepanation that the culture practised - skulls with sections removed and the bone regrown, showing patients survived the surgery. Nazca ceramics with polychrome painting, Wari textiles, Inca quipus, Chincha material and colonial pieces follow. Outside there is a scale model of the Nazca lines that helps make sense of the geoglyphs before or after an overflight. The museum has been affected by earthquakes, notably in 2007, and by theft; displays are dated in places but the objects are first rate.

History

The museum was founded in 1946 with the help of Fernando León de Vivero, Alejandro Pezzia and Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins, and it was the first museum in Peru to carry out paleontological studies of archaeological remains. In 2011 it received Paracas mantles returned by the Swedish government, and after a remodelling funded through the Japan International Cooperation Agency it reopened in May 2016 (Wikipedia, Regional Museum of Ica "Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins").

What to look for

• The Paracas textiles - embroidered mantles with colour preserved by the desert.
• The skulls - deliberate cranial shaping and trepanations with healed bone.
• The Nazca ceramics - polychrome painted vessels from the same desert.
• The lines model - a scale relief of the geoglyphs in the grounds.

When to go

Year-round; Ica is hot and dry. One to two hours. Closed Mondays. A short taxi from the centre or from Huacachina.

Practical notes

Small and old-fashioned in presentation, with signage mainly in Spanish. Human remains are on open display. Earthquake damage and past thefts have affected the collection. The building is unremarkable and easy to miss.

Nearby

Huacachina is a few kilometres south-west; Nazca is south down the Panamericana.

Key facts