In 1965, the Smithsonian in Washington DC, USA, opened the Hall of Physical Anthropology where visitors could find ‘the Skull Wall’, a display of 160 Peruvian crania meant to reveal and explain the growth of human population. Why are Peruvian human remains, particularly crania and ‘mummies’, disproportionally represented in Western museums and especially US institutions? That important question is the starting point of Christopher Heaney's fascinating book Empires of the dead. Heaney uses an impressive variety of archives to trace a five-century-long history of the Andean dead, from powerful and agential ancestors to tools of Spanish colonial power, objects of natural science, curiosities at the World's Fairs, specimens for racist theories—but also a way for Peruvians to reclaim their past. Thoroughly researched, this book succeeds brilliantly in unravelling the complicated history and untangling issues surrounding Andean human remains in both Western and Peruvian museums.

The book is divided into three main sections, each sub-divided into three chapters. The first part (‘Opening, 1525–1795’) synthesises Andean and Inca ontology of death which is foundational for understanding the rest of the book. Here, Heaney also analyses grave re-opening by the Spanish and the manipulation of pre-Hispanic remains for their colonial endeavour. The author highlights the colonial roots of looting in the Andes, where destroying the dead was a tool used to colonise the living. But the Spanish not only destroyed Andean remains, they also transformed them into curiosities and specimens for study. In Chapter 3 (‘Mummifying Inca: colonial grave-opening and the racialization of Ancient Peru’), Heaney traces the history of the ‘Inca mummy’, renowned in our collective imagination. It is only when compared with Egyptian mummies in Europe, however, that the Andean dead became ‘mummies’ and, subsequently, an historical object of study in the west.

The author opens the second part of the book (‘Exporting, 1780–1893’) with the first shipment of an Inca mummy to Europe and how the young Peruvian Republic allowed this for its own political interest—showing that Peru was a sovereign nation with a glorious past (Chapter 4, ‘Trading Incas: San Martín's mummy and the Peruvian independence of the Andean dead’). This first instance of cultural exposure prompted what would become a massive exportation of Andean human remains, both as curiosities and as objects of study which were used to (re)affirm and justify racist preconceptions and agenda. For example, the first monograph on craniometrics classifying humanity, published by Samuel Morton in 1839, was based on, among others, the skull measurements of a large assemblage of Peruvian crania (Chapter 5, ‘Mismeasuring Inca: Samuel George Morton and the American School of Peruvian Skull Science’).

Part 3 (‘Healing, 1863–1965’) focuses on the study of pre-Hispanic trepanation—a procedure that involved cutting through the bone of the skull for curative purpose—and how it was brought to the foreground of anthropology by Julio César Tello. Often referred to as the ‘Father of Peruvian archaeology’, Tello gathered a collection of crania of his own with the goal of redeeming his ancestors. He argued that trepanations were a meticulously performed surgical act with a high rate of success/survival, shifting the colonial and racist narrative towards a better understanding, and celebration, of an old Indigenous practice.

The epilogue beautifully concludes the book but, more importantly, offers a vital and nuanced discussion on the curation of pre-Hispanic human remains today. Heaney leaves the discussion open, giving examples of recent controversial displays of Andean remains (such as Juanita the frozen sacrificed girl) and cases of repatriation along with the questions they raise and the debates they entail. Driven by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), numerous US institutions removed their displays of Peruvian human remains, which now fill the museums’ stores. However, we cannot simply transpose the solutions reached for North American cases to human remains from Peru because of the very history told in this book.

The book is part of a broader movement of questioning human-remains collections in museums and especially their origin and means of acquisition. With this nuanced and entangled history of the collection, exportation, study and display of pre-Hispanic remains, Heaney reminds us of the ever-changing political life of dead bodies and “how Andean remains continue to act upon the living” (p.242). The only criticism that can be levelled at this book, if any is needed, is that it does not go into detail about contemporary archaeology in Peru and the relationship of current local populations (comunidades campesinas) with human remains. Heaney touches on this briefly in the epilogue, but I was left wanting more on the subject.

Finally, Heaney's writing is engaging and clear and will appeal to specialists and non-specialists alike. More than a history book, Empires of the dead is a must-read for every Andean archaeologist and bioarchaeologist who seeks to contextualise and question their practice.