The first people who began to mummify the dead, lived in the most desolate place on the planet.
The people of the chinchorro settled the Atacama desert in Chile about 7000 years BC and mastered the technology of mummification about 5000 years BC. As reported by CNN, it was about 2,000 years before mummification began to be used in Egypt. It is also interesting that the Egyptians were an advanced civilization, mumifitsirovalis their pharaohs, while the chinchorro fishermen, hunters and gatherers, to which all the dead were treated equally.
That the oldest mummies are located in Chile, little is known even in the country. However, local authorities hope that the application for enrollment of the region in the UNESCO world heritage will allow the mummies to obtain the prominence they deserve.
Mariela Santos, curator of the Museum San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum in the small village of San Miguel ASAP in the region of Arica and Parinacota in Chile, will help to answer the question, why is about the oldest mummies known so little.
This Museum houses the remains of about 300 representatives of the people of the chinchorro, but the Museum allows visitors to see only 10% of his collection. And all because at the moment the Museum does not have neither the financial capacity nor the place to demonstrate mummies, so they were not damaged.
Mariela explained that the chinchorro people began mummifying the dead children and fetuses (perhaps because in the desert in the sources of drinking water contains a lot of arsenic, the mortality rate of the fruit was too high). Then began to mummify adults. For nearly 4,000 years they have used 5 different styles of mummification, although Mariela explains that the most popular were the mummies of red and black. To create a mummy black colour body parts of the deceased were completely separated from each other, were processed and then collected again. Red mummy did with the help of small incisions through which removed the internal organs and dried the inside of the body. To recreate the shape of the body used twigs and reeds. They were then supplemented with wigs and clay masks. In the first case, the mask painted with manganese in the second — ocher.
The reason that the mummy could remain intact for so many years, is in an extremely dry climate, and also high degrees of salinity near the coast. The first scientist who found mummies in Arica a century ago, was the German archaeologist Max uhle.
The modern city of Arica is located on chinchorro cemetery. However, the most ancient their mummies is located 70 miles (113 km) to the South in Caleta Camarones, which has hardly changed over the centuries since then, as the ancient fishermen began mummification.
Mariela noted that Chilean mummies has not yet received such recognition as the Egyptian, because Chileans themselves don’t give the treasure ariki great value. However, soon the situation may change. It is expected that in 2020 UNESCO will consider the possibility of granting the region the status of a world heritage site. And while local government is doing everything possible to promote archaeological tourism and asked local fishermen to be the guardians of burial sites of chinchorro.
A new tourist route will allow travelers to overcome the path from the Museum in San Miguel ASAP to the archaeological site, located in Arica and Caleta Camarones.
In addition, the Museum in San Miguel ASAP in 2020 will open up another wing dedicated to chinchorro, which will be put on display another 35% of the collection. They hope that if the Chileans can finally appreciate the global significance of this culture practiced mummification, perhaps the rest of the world is also interested in this.
Local fishermen, in turn, cover some protruding above ground burial places with mud to ward off grave-robbers. They say it’s the best they can do, because while mummies have no place in a Museum in Chile. They have not yet become part of the world heritage, and most people don’t even know what is the oldest mummy ever found.
