Tourism Authorities Highlight the Declaration of the Chinchorro Culture as World Heritage

As “a great pride”, the Undersecretary of Tourism, José Luis Uriarte, described the declaration released by Unesco regarding the inscription of the settlement and the artificial mummification of the Chinchorro culture as World Heritage.

“This is an enormous recognition of our history and culture, but also a great boost to tourism in the northern part of the country, specifically in the Arica and Parinacota Region, which is characterized by having important archaeological sites,” said Uriarte.

The national tourism authority stressed that both for the sector and for the country this news is “a great pride, which drives us and forces us to be even more careful and responsible with our cultural heritage,” so he called all people that they visit the area to “be very respectful and maintain all security measures, so that the Chinchorro mummies continue to be preserved and the whole world recognizes us and can enjoy this great wealth.”

For her part, the national director of Sernatur, Andrea Wolleter, emphasized that such recognition “comes to further enhance our culture and national heritage. The Chichorro Culture thus joins the other six sites highlighted by UNESCO, which fills us with pride and invites us to continue knowing and caring for our environment.”

According to Unesco, there are three Chinchorro cultural settlements nominated as World Heritage Sites: Faldeos del Morro and the Colón 10 Museum – those that are located in the urban environment of Arica and stand out for being the most important and representative cemeteries of the Chinchorro funerary tradition – and the mouth of the Camarones River is added, located in the rural area of the Camarones commune, where it is possible to find different vestiges of this culture, both funeral homes and housing, which are preserved in an environment and landscape similar to the time they inhabited it.

With this new inclusion, Chile has seven cultural sites that, due to their exceptional value, make up the UNESCO World Heritage List: the settlement and mummification of the Chinchorro culture, Rapa Nui, Valparaíso, the Chiloé, Sewell, the Humberstone saltpeter and the Inca Trail.

For more information about the Chinchorro Culture, click here.