The Túcume Museum was opened in 1992 and in 1994 it was granted the status of public institution dependent on the National Institute of Culture (NIC), which is today the Ministry of Culture of Peru. The museum is the result of an archaeological research project carried out between 1989 and 1994 under the sponsorship of the famous Norwegian biologist and explorer Thor Heyerdahl, and funded by the Kon Tiki Museum in Oslo under an agreement with the NIC. From its origins, the museum had a strong ethnographic interest which brought it closer to diverse expressions of the local traditional culture, proposing a dialogue between the past and the present not only from its exhibitions but also from the development of community relations. Its activities have always been in line with the tendencies of the French New Museology from the second half of the XX century, creating a pioneering and innovative management model for its time in Peru. In this way, the main line of action including territory, heritage and community has characterized its community relations and defined its scientific interest, leading to the organization of an ecomuseum as the only example of this methodology in Peru. Nevertheless, this experience highlights the debate about the sustainability criteria in the management of cultural heritage in general and of archaeological heritage in particular.

Whether coming down through the valleys from the heights of the Andes or walking along the coast, a visit to the temples at the Pachacamac archaeological site, the most important sacred space or sanctuary on the pre-Hispanic coast, has become a fundamental ritual pilgrimage. The new site museum has meant an effort on the part of the Ministry of Culture of Perú to offer the public a museum that will provide the appropriate conditions for the conservation, preservation and promotion of the cultural wealth it contains. This is one of the most visited museums in the country and the target audience, on which a special emphasis is placed, is the economically depressed population which surrounds the archaeological site. Following the guidelines set by the Management Plan, the museum’s management proposes the inclusion of the people located in its immediate surroundings through their active participation for the benefit of the archaeological site and its conservation. To this end, the museum has implemented a Community Development Program, in which a group of women that have been trained create products using the iconography of the sanctuary for its sale in the museum. The Educational project works with school children in promoting and strengthening the identity and the engagement with heritage.