Abstract
The Bolivian Mummy project (MumBo) is an international research collaboration between the Museo Nacional de Arqueología - MUNARQ and Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies and represents the first systematic bioarchaeological study of Bolivian pre-Hispanic human remains. The present project combines interdisciplinary expertise from Eurac Research and Liverpool John Moores University Face Lab, integrating results from the MumBo project with facial depictions applied to archaeology. Facial depictions of ancient individuals are an engaging tool for data visualization and science communication. By helping reinstate personhood, they facilitate public interaction with archaeological human remains in museums. However, stewardship, study, and exhibition of human remains in museums are contentious cultural issues, particularly when the remains in question are tied to the cultural heritage of historically underrepresented communities. To address this multifaced challenge requires approaches which are contextdependent and consider the plurality of interconnected, and potentially conflicting voices within a specific sociocultural environment. Therefore, the project aims to propose a potentially ethically sustainable cultural enhancement intervention through the application of participatory co-design methodology (i.e., using questionnaires and focus groups) to integrate the perspectives and values of members of the community within the research process. During a period of fieldwork in La Paz, qualitative data will be collected from participants belonging to diverse demographic groups and, subsequently, their input will be considered throughout the process of representation and dissemination of ancient Bolivian facial depictions. This project will explore a possible workflow solution for the ethical museum valorisation of the cultural heritage represented by human remains in Bolivia. This exploration will be developed into “desirable praxis guidelines” which could be employed in similar projects in the future.