Last Day, Larco Museum in Lima

On our last day with the Collette tour group, we flew from Puno (floating islands) to Lima and were taken by bus to the Larco Museum downtown. The museum houses a vast collection of pre-Incan artifacts that Rafael Larco’s father, and then Larco himself, collected. There are over 30,000 pieces housed at the museum — so many, that not all are on display, but set out on ‘visible storage’ shelves. The collection spans a 5,000-year time period.

We were told at the museum that some of the first artifacts of the collection were found as the workers were digging the fields and that the Larcos ‘rescued’ the artifacts before tomb robbers could send them out of the country for a profit. Other sources say that the Larcos may have employed some freelance grave robbers themselves.

In any case, it is a stunningly well-preserved collection of ceramics, stone figures, gold and silver headdress and facial adornments, and a few tapestries. Because the pieces had been buried underground in stone, and in extremely dry conditions, the colors are still so vibrant. We were told that these pieces did not go through any restoration.

After a farewell dinner at the museum’s restaurant, we were on our way to the airport for our flights home.Read more