Christopher Heaney

Dec 20, 2023 | lrb.co.uk | Christopher Heaney |Erin L. Thompson

The Spanish​ garrotted Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor of what is now Peru, in 1533, but their control over their new territory was far from certain. One way they tried to solidify their claim was to promote alliances between those loyal to the Spanish crown and the remaining Inca aristocracy. When the conquistador Pedro Pizarro went to ask one Inca nobleman for permission to arrange a marriage involving a woman in his family, he got a surprise.

Nov 10, 2023 | blog.oup.com | Christopher Heaney |Becky Clifford

Empires of the Dead: Inca Mummies and the Peruvian Ancestors of American Anthropology By Christopher Heaney November 10th 2023 It is a time of worldwide reckoning for museums that display or contain ancestral dead. Although scrutiny of looted art dates to Britain’s 1816 inquest over the Parthenon marbles, it has taken far longer for museums of anatomy, anthropology, and natural history to address their “specimens” of peoples killed, disinterred, and dissected in colonial contexts. The dam...

Nov 10, 2023 | feeds.feedblitz.com | Christopher Heaney |Becky Clifford

Empires of the Dead: Inca Mummies and the Peruvian Ancestors of American Anthropology By Christopher Heaney November 10th 2023 It is a time of worldwide reckoning for museums that display or contain ancestral dead. Although scrutiny of looted art dates to Britain’s 1816 inquest over the Parthenon marbles, it has taken far longer for museums of anatomy, anthropology, and natural history to address their “specimens” of peoples killed, disinterred, and dissected in colonial contexts. The dam...

Sep 19, 2023 | historytoday.com | Christopher Heaney

Older than their Egyptian counterparts, the preserved remains of Andean peoples fascinated 19th-century Europe, leading to a ‘bone stampede’ for Inca mummies. But to what end? To continue reading this article you will need to purchase access to the online archive. Buy Online Access  Buy Print & Archive Subscription If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in. Please email [email protected] if you have any problems.

Sep 3, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Christopher Heaney

Christopher Heaney is an assistant professor of history at Pennsylvania State University and the author of “Empires of the Dead: Inca Mummies and the Peruvian Ancestors of American Anthropology.”When the Smithsonian’s Hall of Physical Anthropology opened in 1965, visitors met a wall of 160 “ancient Peruvian” skulls arranged like a mushroom cloud.