A fear of the unknown and a desire that someone else had been selected. Yet this fear would have been coupled with a certain pride and a firm belief that they were joining the gods.

Listen and be fair, and make the reasons for actions clear to all.

As expedition leader, at the end of the day I need time to write up notes, think over strategy, examine/clean gear (still and video cameras, a computer, etc.), recharge batteries (both material and human), and make calls and send/receive e-mail. Plus, I often work with the same team members, and know them well. Evenings are when they need downtime.

I've had a number of close calls. They proved to me that if a person isn't very smart (and he couldn't be if he's had as many close calls as I have), he'd sure better be lucky.

After every expedition! But I soon return to my senses.

Yes, but I know that the publicity also makes it more likely that the sites will be scientifically excavated and the finds preserved for future generations. Many of these sites have already been looted, and looting will increase irrespective of publicity: People in the Andes are desperate for ways to make money, and mountain climbing is becoming more common.

Yes. Many indigenous people make simple offerings—coca leaves, foods, herbs, special objects you can buy in a local market—on a regular basis. And in some areas major pilgrimages are undertaken on special occasions to worship the mountains.

All the high-altitude sites will eventually be looted, so the alternative to excavation is losing the remains forever. Through scientific excavations, we document how the various items fit together and preserve them. Also, we work with local people, who want these places excavated, to save their cultural heritage. Disrespect would be to allow the sites to be destroyed, to stand against the customs and wishes of the local culture.

They are kept in museums and labs in cities close to where they were found. We place them in freezers, with temperature and relative humidity controlled. Initially, the freezers are standard ones for foods, as nobody makes frozen-mummy freezers! But for long-term storage and exhibitions, specially built climate-controlled units, with alarms, computer monitoring, etc., are necessary.

They have led me to be more tolerant and respectful of different religions and also to try to take the best from them.

Only relating to a few hot-button issues—or so I like to think. Otherwise, I think I have a very long fuse. If, as rarely occurs, the fuse leads to an explosion, it is usually over quickly and leaves no craters.

Having new insights into the past while discovering unique objects. Seeing the positive results of so many years of work, especially the pleasure it has given many of my friends. And seeing how excited children get about the discoveries.

I once listed all the projects I wanted to do, and it hit me that I could never do them all, even if I had all the money in the world and lived to be a hundred. But I would still like to write a couple more books, finish my research on sacred mountains in the Himalaya, conduct underwater archaeology in Indonesia, and... finish this [interview].

Photograph by Johan Reinhard; portrait by Robert Clark