When you see the word “ mummy ” , we look your mind live on straight to the dry out and bandaged clay of long - preservedEgyptian pharaohs . However , despite their renown , these specimen are not the oldest mom in the world . That claim belongs to the Chinchorro people of Chile ’s Atacama Desert who mummify their numb 7,000 eld ago .
The Chinchorro masses , an ancient civilization of nautical hunter - gatherer , were the first to nail down in the Second Earl of Guilford of Chile and the south of Peru , around 5450 BCE . before long after their arrival , the Chinchorro begin a novel funerary praxis of preserving their dead in the juiceless desert George Sand that surrounded them .
These ancient cemeteries are now inscribed on theUNESCO World Heritage Listfor their archeological value , as they not only provide insight into this strange form ofmummification , but also how the Chinchorro communities functioned , and how they were socially and spiritually structured . Importantly , unlike the Egyptians who allow mumification necrosis for their societal elite group , the Chinchorro offered it as a ritual foreveryone .
Chinchorro mummies look a little different to their more famous Egyptian counterparts.Image credit: cristianzenon/Shutterstock.com
So how did the Chinchorro mummify their dead ? Well , the process was unlike to how the Egyptiansapproached it . First , the physical structure would be stripped of its skin and its organs removed . Once the body ’s enclosed space were dry , the peel would be sew back on . The bodies were also sometimes wrapped in elaborate material , such as reed , sea lion skins , and alpaca wool .
Then , the faces would be embrace inclay , where a masque was then placed that had opening for the oculus and mouth . lastly , the mummies were given wig made of human tomentum before being buried in the desert , the Leslie Townes Hope being that the desiccated conditions would preserve them forever .
The first Chinchorro mummy was documented in 1917 by Max Uhle , a German archeologist who discovered some of the bodies on a beach . Clearly these specimen were one-time , but , at the prison term , it was not possible to date them accurately . Then , with the maturation ofcarbon datingtechniques , it was possible to date the mummies to being more than 7,000 age old .
Since the first discovery over 100 years ago , hundred of other mummies have been found in the desert . Some of these have been discovered during building works or unearthed by curious creature .
The community inhabit in Arica , in northerly Chile , have been cognisant of these special bodies for a foresighted time . This is because the bodies are closemouthed to the control surface , so they are easy to let out . As such , these hoi polloi have determine to survive with the dead that are scattered throughout their hometowns . They see them as part of their heritage and finger responsible for take care of them .
Unfortunately , due toclimate change , many of the Chinchorro graves are being unearth by abnormal weather effect , which exposes the bodies to the elements . This will have serious impacts on their preservation for the future as archaeologists struggle to fund drive to recover and preserve them .
“ The museum are a bit overwhelmed with all this material , ” Bernardo Arriaza , a leading expert on the Chinchorro at the University of Tarapacá in Arica , told theGuardian .
Even those held within museum are now threatened by exchange climate weather . The rise in ambient humidness has led some mummies to shoot mould , while others have fallen to dry out rot or hungry insects . All these challenge are aggravate by the variety of materials that plow the mummies , each take its own conditions for storage .
In 2022 , a newfangled mood - controlled museum near Arica was being fabricate to house the Chinchorro mummies . It is hope that this sophisticated adeptness , worth around $ 19 million , may help protect these valuable artifact from the distant past times .
