Economies of ‘truth’: alien materialities and the construction of history in contemporary Peru

Dr Corinna Howland | Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology - Te Kura Mahinga Tangata | School of Social and Cultural Studies

Peru’s abundance of archaeologically and historically significant sites has also fostered theories of their ‘alien’ or extraterrestrial origins, alongside UFO sightings and claims of alien visitation (see e.g. Piacenza 2014). In 2023, these claims attracted international attention when ufologist Jaime Maussan presented “three-fingered alien mummies” allegedly discovered in Peru at an open hearing of the Mexican Congress (McHardy 2023). A subsequent forensic examination by Peru’s Ministry of Culture and Heritage debunked similar specimens as fabrications, emphasising the importance of science and Peru’s history of human achievement (Estrada 2023). Popular interest nevertheless persists, particularly around sites such as the Nazca Lines and Machu Picchu, supporting a cottage industry of museums, tours, and ‘alien’ artefacts (see Museo Scientífico Javier Cabrera 2024). For believers, skeletal and mummified remains, stone carvings, and geoglyphs constitute evidence of extraterrestrial predecessors; for scientists and state actors, they represent the denial or desecration of Peru’s “cultural patrimony” (Estrada 2023). In this work-in-progress talk, I explore two early threads of departure, considering the methodological implications of working across incommensurate epistemologies; and proposing an ‘economies’ approach to the construction and circulation of alternative ‘truths’.

Corinna Howland is an anthropologist working on ethics, economics, and belief at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.

This seminar will be held ‘in person’.