Peruvian Mummy Expert to Lecture at The U of M
For release: Mar. 25, 2003

The College of Communication and Fine Arts, the Anthropology Department, the Art Department of The University of Memphis and the Friends of Chucalissa will host a slide lecture by Dr. Sonia Guillén on Wednesday, April 2, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in Mitchell Hall Auditorium on The University of Memphis campus. The title of the lecture is "Living with Our Ancestors: Mummies and Identity in the Andes."

Dr. Guillén is Director of Centro Mallqui (Mummy Center), Ilo, Peru (http://www.geocities.com/ Athens/Olympus/4932/eng_idx1.html), Director of The Bioanthropology Foundation Peru, and Scientific Advisor to the Museo Muncipal El Algarrobal, Ilo, Peru. In 1998 she became Director of the Museo Leymebamba, Chachapoyas, Amazonas. Dr. Guillén is traveling to the U.S. to speak in Arkansas and at The University of Memphis.

Dr. Guillén, a biological and forensic anthropologist, received her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and has extensive experience with Peruvian mummies from both Inka and pre-Inka cultures. She is also a specialist in the conservation of organic materials and is an internationally recognized expert on the analysis and preservation of mummies. She has served as a consultant to the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities on the Royal Mummy project at the Cairo Museum. Dr. Guillén has been featured on the Discovery channel and in National Geographic. She has published in Science magazine and The Lancet.

The lecture is free and open to the public. There will be a reception prior to the lecture beginning at 6:30 p.m. For more information, contact Dr. Patricia Podzorski, Department of Art of The University of Memphis at (901) 678-2649.

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