In 2004 a construction crew working in the middle of Arica, on a street called Colón, struck something that stopped the job and made the news: human remains, carefully preserved, lying in the sand. The site, known by the number of the street, turned out to be a Chinchorro cemetery in the middle of a modern city, and the excavation that followed uncovered dozens of mummies, some of them over five thousand years old. Colón 10 became one of the key sites of the Chinchorro culture, and is part of the UNESCO listing that was granted in 2021.
The find changed the way people see the city. For decades, Arica had been a border town and a port, known for its beaches and its role in the War of the Pacific, and for its position near the Peruvian frontier. Suddenly it was also an archaeological capital, a place where the earliest embalming in human history had been practised. The Chinchorro mummies were not made for kings, as in Egypt, but for fishing families, which makes the practice even more remarkable.
What you see in Arica depends on what you ask for. Many of the finds are held at the museum at San Miguel de Azapa, a short drive inland, and some are displayed at the university or at local exhibits. In the city itself, there are signs and plaques where excavations took place, and the museum staff can say what is open to visitors. It is an easy place to combine with a walk up El Morro, the headland that overlooks the harbour, where a fortress and a small museum stand.
Practical details are simple. Arica is a city with fuel stations, cafes and hotels, a mild, dry climate, and a seafront with surf beaches and good seafood. Traffic is manageable, and the centre is small enough to walk. A ride out of town heads into the desert and, further on, up the long road to the altiplano. Check the weather before you climb, and take warm layers if you go high. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, with temperatures in the low to mid twenties and rarely any rain.