Are the villagers in agreement with removing a mummy from their sacred mountain?
The vast majority of villagers have been supportive of the expeditions and the excavations of mummies which we have done in the past. There are invariably some villagers actively involved in the project (at least if a village exists near where we work), and we provide reports, photos, videos (if taken), and inventories of the items found. We have helped set up committees for the protection of the archaeological sites and also supported the construction of village museums in some cases. Villagers are well aware of the difficulty in protecting the mountaintop sites from looters and support the preservation of their cultural patrimony. The only way this can be guaranteed to date is through careful excavating and preservation of the items recovered.
