A mummified corpse up to 800 years old was found in a food bag in Peru, authorities in the South American country said.
Photos released by the Department of Culture of the city of Puno, in the southeast of the country, show a skeleton in a fetal position, lying in a red bag with a reflective inner lining, commonly used by food delivery companies. It bears the logo of Pedidos Ya, a Uruguayan take-out food company popular throughout South America.
The directorate said in a statement on Sunday that the body of «a mummified adult male individual,» with a «relative chronology of 600 to 800 years,» was discovered during a joint operation with the Peruvian National Police.
The body has become state property under national heritage laws.
Local outlet Noticias Sin Filtro Puno TV published an interview with Julio César, who said the body belonged to him.
“He sleeps in my bedroom, with me. There is my bed, the television and next to it is Juanita. I take care of it. It’s like, if you’ll excuse the expression, like she’s my spiritual girlfriend”. she told the news outlet, using the name she has for the body.
Later scans found that the body is, in fact, that of a man, a Juan, not a Juanita.
César had been detained, the AFP news agency reported. The Peruvian newspaper Diario Cajamarca Noticias reported that the body was in the possession of César’s family and that he had taken it out to show his friends.
The Peruvian Ministry of Culture urged the population to help «in the defense and protection of our precious heritage, notifying us of any discovery or attack against movable or immovable cultural heritage.»
NBC News has contacted the Peruvian National Police for comment.
Peru is rich in archaeological discoveries and boasts the ancient city of Machu Picchu, which was reopened two weeks ago after weeks of anti-government protests.