Mysterious mummies of the desert of Chile

Mummy with all the posture, sitting even raw hair, smiling mummy, mummy face made from pelican skin . are the mysterious mummies of the ancient Chinchorro in the Atacama desert in Chile .

The Chinchorro are hunters and gatherers, living at the river mouth, catching fish with nets, spears, hooks and making mobile huts and sea lion bones. Their simple primitive life had no pets, pottery, agriculture and metallurgy, in stark contrast to the sophisticated mummification they created for thousands of years, before the Inca civilization dominated. This mummification took more than 3,000 years and went through different stages when Chinchorro society disappeared in 2000 BC.

Unlike Egyptian mummies - only kings or aristocrats newly mummified, the Chinchorro perform this ritual for all people of all ages and social statuses. Infants, fetuses, and even mummies of animals, pets are also meticulously "cared for" as adults.

The technique of embalming the body of ancient Chinchorro is very high. Natural dehydration technique is one of the popular mummification methods of ancient Chinchorro people. However, the hot dry environment of the world's driest desert is the most important agent to preserve mummies. The rapid dehydration of the corpses, plus the high sodium environment make the bacteria unable to grow. The corpse was quickly dried under the heat of 50-60 degrees C.

A corpse remains skin, hair and clothes buried in the Atacama desert. According to new research by scientists, this natural dehydrated corpses may have inspired the ancient Chichorro to actively mummify during the population boom and cultural development of the ancient Chichorro. more than thousands of ancient Egyptians.

The mummy of a masked boy was buried in a cloth made of reeds, the mummy's organs were replaced with soil and covered with black manganese ore ash on top of the skeleton. Through the discovery of fossil trees in the nearby Andes, as well as carbon radioactivity, the archaeologist group said that when the Chinchorro practiced mummification when the population grew about 7,000 years ago and began to decline. 5,000 years ago.

The mummy is smiling at the wig and covered with 5,000-year-old black ash. This type of embalming technique also lasts more than 2 millennia in the Chinchorro community. In 2800 BC, the black ash layer was replaced by red, possibly due to changes in color symbols or because black manganese ore was harder to find.

This is a masked mummy face, proving that along with the harsh climate in the Atacama desert, the population explosion of the Chinchorro from 7,000 years ago prompted the embalming technique.

The mummies of adults and children are separated by whale bones. This could be the mummies of a family. According to the Chinchorro conception, embalming the body to express the ancestral presence of the ancestors.

The scene depicts the Chinchorro using reeds, ash to strengthen the bones and joints of the dead and make fake leather with cloth. It is very likely that the Chinchorro will die when marched around mummies before being buried.

The mummy of a 2000-year-old woman has a mask made of shroud with reeds, ropes and leather made from a pelican skin. The Chinchorro are different from the ancient Egyptians, not only mummifying the nobles and kings, but also embalming them all, regardless of age or status.

A mummy Chinchorro children are masked on top of the skull. According to the researchers, mummies in Chinchorro and North Africa could have the same inspiration from the preservation of bodies in desert conditions. This coincidence may be random based on the desert environment.

For Chinchorro people, children are attached to wooden frames worn on their parents' backs when they die. This is a mummy image of a 5,000-year-old child on a wooden frame to wear on their parents' backs.

Reference: Nationalgeographic