Chile's desert town built on mummies...
Chile's desert town built on mummies...
ezgif-5-362b3fd7f1.jpg
The Egyptians may have the most famous mummies, but they're not the oldest. The Chinchorro people of Chile's Atacama Desert were the first to mummify their dead – 7,000 years ago. IIn Chile's Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, mummies have been found that pre-date the Egyptians' by 2,000 years. So while the Egyptians may be the most famous culture to mummify their dead, it turns out they weren't the first to do so.
"The Chinchorro are the very first people that inhabited the north of Chile and the south of Peru," said Bernardo Arriaza, a physical anthropologist with the University of Tarapacá. "They are the pioneers of the Atacama Desert." And, he added, they are also the first known culture in the world to mummify their dead, starting around 5,000 BCE.
The remains of hundreds of these marine hunter-gatherers – who lived on the Pacific Coast of the Atacama from approximately 5450 BCE to 890 BCE – have been found in the Arica and Parinacota regions. In 2021, these cemeteries were inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List for the immense archaeological value they provide. Not only do they reveal the detailed mortuary and funerary practices of the ancient culture, but they offer insight into the community's social and spiritual structures. For instance, mummification was not reserved for the upper class of society (like it was for the Egyptians) but was a ritual for all.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2...ilt-on-mummies
Reply With Quote
