The Chinchorro Mummies

The first mummy to be wrapped up comes from the Chinchorro culture of South America, within the area of southern Peru and northern Chile. The oldest of those mummies was an individual who died in 5050 BC, over 7,000 years ago. These Chinchorro mummies are 2,000 years older than the mummies in ancient Egypt! One of these Chinchorro mummies was preserved naturally and wasn't wrapped up, and it's 9,000 years old (meaning it's from 7,020 BC).

Chinchorro means “gill netters”, which is their way of fishing with nets. The Chinchorro people lived by the ocean , the Atacama Coast, along the Pacific Ocean. Most of what they ate was seafood (fish and shellfish), sea birds and sometimes sea lions. They also hunted animals for meat and picked up some plants, too.

Pictures of those mummies may frighten some curious kids. Parents are advised to look and appearance at images online before showing them to children.

These mummies have remained identical until today because the place where the Chinchorro lived was very dry, although they lived by the ocean. Much of this area may be a desert and a few areas haven't had rain in over 400 years!

How are Chinchorro mummies made?

The Chinchorro had other ways of preserving (to keep safe in order that it doesn't spoil) the dead bodies. They would start by removing all the organs inside the body, even the brain. The hair and skin would even be removed using stone tools, not metal knives. Some of the sharpest knives were made using a pelican’s beak.

Sometimes, the head, arms and legs would be removed and therefore the body was restore together later. The body would be dried out applying mixture of hot coals from a fire, also as ash. They would place sticks inside the body to stay the body stiff and fill the insides with straw and feathers. The face would be covered in clay and overlooked to dry for 30-40 days. Sometimes the bodies would be painted red or black.

How did Chinchorro mummies die?

Some of these bodies had diseases and broken bones. Arthritis and bone decay are two common diseases. Some mummies have damage in their ears suggesting that some people may be deaf. This damage likely came from diving in the ocean for shellfish. Many mummies have broken bones that have gotten better. These injuries are either from accidents at work or fighting inside the community.

All kinds of people were made into mummies - men, women and kids, young and older people, too. Even some babies were mummified, which might be because they died during childbirth; these babies were a number of the foremost decorated mummies. After the mother was finished, it had been not buried. People would put them in their houses and other places where people lived, worked and played. Some people think the mummies brought good luck.

We aren't exactly sure why the Chinchorro made these mummies but we expect it's because they cared for his or her dead families and wanted to stay their body, and their memory, alive forever.

Vocabulary:

Chinchorro culture: - The Chinchorro culture of South America was a preceramic culture that lasted from 9,000 to 3,500 years BP (7,000 to 1,500 BC). The people forming the Chinchorro culture were sedentary fishermen inhabiting the Pacific coastal region of current northern Chile and southern Peru.