Origins of Civilisation · Allegedly from tunnels near Nazca / Palpa, Peru; bodies held in Ica, studied at private facilities

The 'Nazca Mummies' (Maria and the Tridactyl Bodies)

Three-fingered 'beings' paraded before Mexico's Congress — the biggest out-of-place-artefact controversy of the decade

Mainstream: Modern assemblages using pre-Columbian human remains (constructed post-2015)Alternative: Claimed as non-human tridactyl beings, radiocarbon-dated c. AD 245-1400-14.84°, -74.94°

Origins Technology

At a glance

Since 2017, a rolling cast of desiccated, three-fingered humanoid bodies — 'Maria', 'Wawita', 'Josefina', 'Clara', 'Mauricio', 'Montserrat' and others — has been promoted as a non-human species found by treasure hunters in tunnels near Nazca, Peru. The saga began with a paid documentary series on Gaia.com featuring Mexican journalist and ufologist Jaime Maussan, French-Peruvian explorer Thierry Jamin and Russian researcher Konstantin Korotkov, and escalated spectacularly when Maussan presented two small specimens to Mexico's Congress in September 2023 under oath, and again that November. Peruvian forensic scientists, the Ministry of Culture and the World Committee on Mummy Studies denounce the bodies as manipulated or manufactured; Maussan's circle publishes ongoing 'findings' of pregnancies, implants and dental work. It is the first out-of-place-artefact controversy conducted largely on livestream.

The mainstream view

What archaeology says

Peru's scientific and legal institutions have been unambiguous. In 2017-2018 the World Committee on Mummy Studies called the affair an 'irresponsible organised campaign of disinformation' and a likely crime against the dead, noting the larger bodies appear to be genuine pre-Columbian mummies mutilated for the purpose. A Peruvian prosecutor-office report concluded early specimens were 'recently manufactured dolls' covered with paper and synthetic glue to simulate skin, and in January 2023 the Institute of Forensic Legal Medicine examined two small 'mummies' seized at Lima airport, finding one skull came from a quadruped mammal and the bodies were assembled from bird and animal bones with modern glue. In 2024, forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada of the Public Ministry presented findings on 'Maria'-type bodies bluntly: dolls made of animal bones, paper and glue — 'the claim they are extraterrestrial is totally false'.

Independent specialists agree on the anatomy: the tridactyl hands and feet show mismatched bone counts, duplicated and reversed phalanges consistent with cut-and-paste reassembly from human hands and feet; the elongated skulls match well-known Andean cranial modification or, in small specimens, animal braincases. The much-cited DNA runs show degraded, contamination-heavy mixtures — substantially human plus bacterial and unidentifiable reads, which is what damaged, handled remains yield; 'unknown DNA' percentages reflect sequencing noise, not new species.

For archaeologists the affair is looting and desecration: real Nazca-region human remains, protected by law, have been cut apart to manufacture spectacle, and UNESCO-linked and university voices in Peru have demanded repatriation and prosecutions. UNAM's radiocarbon laboratory, whose dates Maussan cited, publicly disavowed any endorsement of the bodies' interpretation.

Key evidence cited

Peru's Institute of Forensic Legal Medicine found airport-seized specimens were assembled from bird and mammal bones with modern synthetic glue
Forensic archaeologist Flavio Estrada's 2024 report identified the bodies as manufactured dolls using animal and human remains, paper and glue
Anatomical reviews show duplicated, reversed and miscounted phalanges in the 'tridactyl' hands, consistent with reassembly from human parts
The World Committee on Mummy Studies condemned the affair as organised disinformation and desecration of real pre-Columbian mummies
UNAM's radiocarbon laboratory disavowed use of its dates to support non-human claims; dating tissue does not date an assemblage
DNA results show degraded human sequences plus contamination — the profile of manipulated ancient remains, not a new species

The alternative view

What the skeptics propose

The claims are led by Jaime Maussan, with recurring participation from Dr Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez, a Mexican navy forensic physician, radiologist colleagues, and Peruvian promoters including Jois Mantilla; the earlier phase involved Thierry Jamin's Inkari-Cusco institute and Gaia.com's 'Unearthing Nazca' series. The core assertion: the bodies are a genuine tridactyl species — possibly a parallel humanoid lineage or extraterrestrial — found mummified in a diatomaceous-earth tunnel system near Nazca around 2015-2017, with radiocarbon dates from about AD 245 to 1400, coherent skeletal anatomy visible in CT scans, no surgical seams, 'metallic implants' of osmium-bearing alloy, eggs with foetuses inside 'Josefina', and in later specimens — 'Montserrat', presented from 2024-2025 — an alleged pregnancy ('Rafael') and even dental fillings, presented as evidence of a technological culture.

The September 2023 Mexican Congress hearing put two small bodies, 'Clara' and 'Mauricio', before legislators under oath, citing UNAM radiocarbon dates of around a thousand years; a second session in November 2023 featured doctors attesting the bodies were 'single skeletons', and in November 2024 a Peruvian congressional office hosted a similar presentation. American supporters, including physician John McDowell and lawyer-investigator Joshua McDowell, have pressed fingerprint and CT arguments that the dermal ridges are non-human, and 2025 media coverage highlighted new scans claimed to rule out assembly.

Current status: no specimen has been released to an independent, mainstream institution; the promoters cite Peruvian seizure threats as the reason. Maussan's history — the Roswell-slide fiasco of 2015 and the 'demon fairy' among them — is cited by critics as a pattern; supporters answer that the bodies exist, are scannable, and that blanket dismissal without hands-on examination is itself unscientific. The affair continues to generate hearings, lawsuits and documentaries.

Key evidence cited

Radiocarbon dates on body tissue reportedly range from c. AD 245 to 1400, argued to exclude modern fabrication of the tissue itself
CT and X-ray scans, promoters claim, show articulated, unbroken skeletons with no cuts, seams or internal fixation
Dr Jose Zalce Benitez and colleagues testified under oath in Mexico's Congress that the bodies are single coherent organisms
Alleged osmium-alloy chest implants in 'Josefina' are presented as grave goods of a technological culture
The 'Montserrat' body, unveiled 2024-2025, is claimed to show a foetus and dental work, argued to be impossible to fake internally
Supporters note Peru's refusal to allow export means no mainstream lab has examined the large bodies first-hand — so, they argue, they cannot have been debunked first-hand either

Genuinely open questions

Where exactly did the bodies come from — the alleged tunnel site has never been disclosed or independently visited, and looters' trails remain unprosecuted?
How many genuine pre-Columbian mummies were destroyed or modified to create the specimens, and can they be repatriated and reburied?
Who manufactured the small doll-like specimens, and is there a workshop still producing them for the market?
Will any large body — Maria or Montserrat — ever be examined hands-on by an independent international team, the single step both sides claim to want?

Worth knowing

The 2023 Mexican Congress session backfired internationally within hours: NASA's UAP study chair publicly urged the promoters to submit samples for open analysis, and Mexican scientists organised a counter-symposium — under the banner of defending both science and Peru's actual archaeological heritage.