The civilization that knew how to mummify was 2,000 years before Egypt

The Chinchorro people in the Atacama Desert (Chile) were the first to discover the recipe for mummification. 7,000 years ago, they discovered how to preserve dead bodies.

The oldest mummies

The Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world, has the world's oldest mummies. The first inhabitants of Egypt appeared around 3150 BC. Meanwhile, the Chinchorro people have appeared since 7000 BC and developed the technique of mummification from 5000 BC.

Bernardo Arriaza, a physical anthropologist at the University of Tarapacá, said: "The Chinchorro were the first people to inhabit northern Chile and southern Peru. They colonized the Atacama desert."

In the regions of Arica and Parinacota, hundreds of remains of Chinchorro people have been found from about 5450 BC to 890 BC. In 2021, this cemetery was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list for its great archaeological value.

The world's first mummies were not made by the Egyptians.

They not only reveal about the mummification and burial methods of ancient cultures. These mummies also provide a new insight into the social and spiritual structure of the community at that time. Unlike Egypt, mummification was only for the elite. With the Chinchorro, everyone is mummified. It's like a ritual for the dead.

Mauricio Uribe, an archaeologist at the University of Chile, said the Chinchorro people preserve the bodies of their loved ones to give them eternal life. For the Egyptians, mummification was associated with the concept of traveling to another world.

The custom of disappearing

The Chinchorro people live by fishing and hunter-gatherers. They used to live near the Camarones River, which contains high levels of arsenic. Arsenic is an extremely toxic substance, which exists in water bodies or deep underground. This is the cause of many poisoning cases of the ancient Chinchorro people.

Bernardo Arriaza says the first Chinchorro communities that settled near the Camarones River were chronically poisoned by arsenic. This leads to a high rate of perinatal mortality (fetal mortality).

The grief and desire to prolong the life of their loved ones forever led them to devise a way to embalm. In fact, the first mummies of the Chinchorro people (dating 5,000-3,000 BC) were children, fetuses, infants. Their organs were removed and replaced with clay and other materials.

Arsenic exposed the first Chinchorro people to chronic poisoning.

This practice developed and lasted until 890 BC. The mummies are not limited to any age. What they all have in common is that they are all described as "extremely complex and like a work of art".

A 2017 study by the University of Chile showed that genetic adaptations of the Chinchorro people evolved over time, particularly in areas with high arsenic levels.

The results showed that 68% of the current population in the Camarones had a variant of the AS3MT enzyme in their genome. This variant allows them to easily remove arsenic through urine.

The high adaptation to arsenic also partly explains the Chinchorro mummification practice, which gradually disappeared in the 1st millennium BC.

How the Chinchorro mummified bodies

There are 2 popular techniques are "black mummy" and "red mummy". The first technique appeared from 5000 BC to 3000 BC.

According to Mummipedia, the ancient Chinchorro would cut off the head, arms, and legs of the dead and take their organs. The dead body is then heated by introducing hot coals into the hollow body.

Next, let it dry and remove the meat from the bones. The skull is cut in half. They stuffed some material into the skull and sewed it up. The hollow body is also stuffed with fur, vegetable fibers, clay . and covered with black ash and manganese.

Finally, they put on wigs and black masks for the mummy.

Chinchorro mummies are stuffed with various materials.

The method of making "red mummies" was developed around 2500 BC. The biggest difference is that they don't cut dead body parts. The only part that was cut off was the head to remove the brain. Then, they cut the dead person's belly and shoulder to remove the organs and dry.

The similarity is that the mummy is also stuffed with materials to keep its original shape. Finally, they sewed it up to form a complete mummy and then covered it with red paint.