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Chinchorro mummies

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Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Chinchorro mummies of the type site in Arica, Chile
Map
Interactive map of Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region
LocationChile
CriteriaCultural: (iii)(v)
Reference1634
Inscription2021 (44th Session)

The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture, found in what is now northern Chile. They are the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains, having been buried up to two thousand years before the Egyptian mummies. The earliest mummy that has been found in Egypt dates from around 3000 BC,[1] while the oldest purposefully artificially preserved[2] Chinchorro mummies date from around 5050 BC.

The oldest naturally mummified corpse associated with the Chinchorro civilization was recovered from the Atacama Desert and is dated from around 7020 BC.[3]

Shell midden and bone chemistry suggest that 90% of the people's diet was seafood. Many ancient cultures of fishermen existed, tucked away in the arid river valleys of the Andes, but the Chinchorro made themselves unique by their dedicated preservation of the dead.

The Chinchorro culture settlements and artificial mummification process in Arica and Parinacota were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2021.[2]

The Chinchorro culture

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The Chinchorro were an Indigenous people who lived along the Pacific coast of what is now northern Chile and southern Peru between about 7000 and 1500 BCE, a period of more than 5,000 years. They established small communities near rivers that crossed the Atacama Desert and relied heavily on the sea for food. Shell middens and chemical analysis of human remains indicate that seafood accounted for about 90 percent of their diet.[3][2]

Beginning around 5000 BCE, the Chinchorro developed the world's earliest known tradition of artificial mummification. Unlike many later societies, they preserved the bodies of men, women and children rather than reserving elaborate funerary treatment for a social elite. Over the next 3,000 years, their methods developed into several distinct forms before the practice ended around 1800 BCE.[3][4]

Discovery

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For centuries, Chinchorro mummies were uncovered naturally as wind erosion and shifting sands exposed ancient burials along the Pacific coast of the Atacama Desert. Following the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), military activity and development around Arica, a coastal city in northern Chile, revealed additional cemeteries, and reports of the remarkably well-preserved bodies began appearing in local newspapers. Although these discoveries attracted growing attention, the mummies were still thought to be isolated burials rather than the remains of a previously unknown culture.[5]

About 30 years later, on 29 January 1910, Chilean teacher and amateur archaeologist Pedro P. Canales published one of the first detailed descriptions of the mummies in the newspaper El Pacífico. Writing about Indigenous cemeteries around Arica and Tacna, a city in southern Peru about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Arica, he described the large number of naturally preserved bodies and urged that the human remains and the objects buried with them be collected and studied. Later that year, his paper was presented at the Seventeenth International Congress of Americanists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, bringing reports of the mummies to an international scholarly audience. Even then, the bodies had not yet been recognised as belonging to a distinct archaeological culture.[6]

Systematic study of the mummies began in 1914, when German archaeologist Max Uhle excavated several cemeteries around Arica. His work marked the beginning of more than a century of archaeological research into the Chinchorro mummies and the people who created them.[3][2]

Condition and preservation

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Since 1914, archaeologists have documented the remains of about 282 members of the Chinchorro culture from cemeteries along the Pacific coast of northern Chile. One of the largest burial grounds, Morro-I near Arica, contained the remains of 96 individuals, including 54 adults and 42 children. Of the children, seven were female, twelve male and 23 were of indeterminate sex.[7][8][3][9]

The remains have been recovered in a wide range of conditions. Some individuals retain skin, hair and other soft tissues, while others survive mainly as skeletons or partial remains. Clay masks, coloured pigments, reed wrappings and other materials used to prepare the dead have also survived.[10][3]

The exceptional preservation of the remains reflects both the hyper-arid environment of the Atacama Desert and the methods the Chinchorro used to prepare their dead. As a result, archaeologists have been able to examine both naturally and artificially preserved individuals in exceptional detail.[3][11]

Scientific study

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Chronology

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Scientific study has shown that Chinchorro mortuary practices developed over more than 5,000 years. The earliest known naturally preserved individual associated with the culture, known as Acha Man, died around 7020 BCE. His body was preserved by the hyper-arid conditions of the Atacama Desert.[12][7]

By about 5050 BCE, the Chinchorro had begun preserving their dead through artificial mummification. The earliest known example is a child buried in the Camarones Valley, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Arica, in what is now northern Chile. Artificial mummification continued for about 3,000 years before ending around 1800 BCE.[2][13][4]

Archaeologists recognise several forms of Chinchorro mummification, including black, red, mud-coated and bandage mummies. Although these forms are associated with different periods, their dates overlap, and more than one technique has been found within the same cemetery. The evidence therefore does not support a simple sequence in which one method completely replaced another.[3][14][15]

Imaging and genetic studies

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The Chinchorro mummies have been examined using imaging and genetic techniques intended to limit damage to the fragile remains. In 2016, 15 mummies, including adults, children and infants, underwent computed tomography (CT) scanning. The scans allowed researchers to examine the bodies without opening them.[16]

Thousands of cross-sectional images showed the internal structure of the mummies, including wooden supports, packing materials and surviving soft tissue. Researchers planned to use the images for virtual dissections and digital reconstructions of the individuals' muscles and facial features. The scans also showed that one small object previously believed to be a mummy did not contain a human skeleton and was instead a figurine.[16]

Small samples of skin and hair were also collected for planned genetic testing.[16] Separate DNA studies have identified individuals from the Chinchorro culture as belonging to mitochondrial haplogroup A2.[17]

Modern conservation

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After surviving for about 7,000 years in the extremely dry Atacama Desert, some Chinchorro mummies have begun to deteriorate under modern storage conditions. A 2016 study reported increasingly rapid damage during the previous decade among mummies held at the University of Tarapacá in Arica, northern Chile. Areas of preserved skin had darkened and begun to ooze.[18]

Researchers from Harvard University and the University of Tarapacá found bacteria and fungi on the damaged skin, including microorganisms capable of breaking down collagen and keratin, important proteins in human skin. Experiments showed that deterioration increased sharply at 75–80 percent relative humidity. After 21 days, mummy skin kept at this humidity showed increased collagen breakdown.[18] The researchers recommended keeping museum collections at about 40–60 percent relative humidity, since very dry conditions can also damage the remains.[19]

Conservation is more difficult for Chinchorro remains still buried in the Atacama Desert. Some lie close to the surface and may be exposed by construction, erosion or other disturbances. Unlike museum collections, archaeological sites cannot be kept at controlled temperature and humidity, leaving unexcavated remains vulnerable to environmental changes that increase moisture.[18]

Cultural interpretation

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The mummies may have served as a means of assisting the soul in surviving and preventing the bodies from frightening the living.[20] A more commonly accepted theory is that there was an ancestor cult of sorts,[4][21] since there is evidence that the bodies travelled with the groups, were placed in positions of honour during major rituals, and were not buried permanently until some time after death.[22]

The bodies, which were always found in an extended position, were elaborately decorated and coloured, sometimes repainted, and are thought to have been reinforced and stiffened so they could be carried on reed litters and displayed.[14][4] Because the Chinchorro were a preceramic and partly nomadic society, the archaeological record has made it difficult to determine why these practices developed.[4]

Chinchorro mummification

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Head of a Chinchorro mummy

The Chinchorro developed methods of artificial mummification that were practised for several millennia and changed through time and region.[23] Artificially prepared remains include men, women and children from across the social spectrum, rather than a group defined by age, sex or social status.[2] Some of the earliest known artificially prepared Chinchorro remains are those of infants and children.[24]

Preparation varied considerably. Depending on the period and style, bodies could be dismembered and reconstructed, internally treated through incisions, reinforced and reshaped with materials including wooden poles, reeds and clay, fitted with human-hair wigs, and finished with mineral pigments.[23] These practices did not form a single standardized or strictly sequential process. Different forms overlapped chronologically, and different types of mummies occur within the same cemeteries.[25]

Archaeologist Bernardo Arriaza grouped artificially prepared Chinchorro mummies into four main types, known as black, red, bandaged and mud-coated mummies. These methods changed over time and sometimes overlapped, while other forms of treatment have also been identified, including wrapping bodies in reed cords.[23] Not every Chinchorro mummy, however, was deliberately preserved. Some bodies became mummified naturally, as the extremely dry conditions of the Atacama Desert slowed decomposition and preserved the remains.[2]

Natural mummification

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Of the 282 Chinchorro mummies found to date, 29% of them were results of the natural mummification process (7020–1300 BCE).[3] In northern Chile, environmental conditions greatly favor natural mummification. The soil is very rich in nitrates which, when combined with other factors such as the aridity of the Atacama Desert, ensure organic preservation. Salts halt bacterial growth; the hot, dry conditions facilitate rapid desiccation, evaporating all bodily fluids of the corpses. Soft tissues, as a result, dry before they decay and a naturally preserved mummy is left.[21] Even though the Chinchorro people did not mummify the bodies artificially, the bodies were still buried wrapped in reeds with grave goods.[3]

The black mummy technique

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The black mummy technique (5000 to 3000 BCE) involved taking the dead person's body apart, treating it, and reassembling it. The head, arms, and legs were removed from the trunk; the skin was often removed, too. The body was heat-dried, and the flesh and tissue were completely stripped from the bone by using stone tools. Evidence exists that the bones were dried by hot ashes or coal. After reassembly, the body was then covered with a white ash paste, filling the gaps with grass, ashes, soil, animal hair and more. The paste was also used to fill out the person's normal facial features. The person's skin (including facial skin with a wig attachment of short black human hair) was refitted on the body, sometimes in smaller pieces, sometimes in one almost-whole piece. Sea lion skin was sometimes used as well. Then the skin (or, in the case of children, who were often missing their skin layer, the white ash layer) was painted with black manganese giving their color.[3]

The red mummy technique

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The red mummy technique (2500 BC to 2000 BC) was a technique in which rather than disassemble the body, many incisions were made in the trunk and shoulders to remove internal organs and dry the body cavity. The head was cut from the body so that the brain could be removed, after which the skin would be pasted back on, which would often just be covered with a clay mask. The body was packed with various materials to return it to somewhat more-normal dimensions, sticks used to strengthen it, and the incisions sewn up using reed cord. The head was placed back on the body, this time with a wig made from tassels of human hair up to 60 cm long. A "hat" made out of black clay held the wig in place. Except for the wig and often the (black) face, everything was then painted with red ochre.[3]

Mud coat

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The final style of Chinchorro mummification was the mud-coat (3000-1300 BCE). Ecologically speaking, at the time of the Chinchorro culture the region was relatively stable. It has been suggested by environmentalists that the incredible preservation of these mummies is also influenced by the pedogenic (the evolution of soil) creation of clays and gypsum, which act as cementing agents, and the latter as a natural desiccant. The malleable clay allowed for the morticians to mold and create the colorful appearances of mummies, with the added bonus of the fact that the foul smell of the desiccating mummy would be covered.[15] Artisans no longer removed the organs of the dead; instead a thick coat of mud, sand and a binder like egg or fish glue was used to cover the bodies. Once completed the mummies were cemented into their graves. The change in style may have come from exposure to outsiders and their different cultures, or from the association of disease with the rotting corpses.[3]

Bandage technique

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The bandage technique (guessed to be 2620-2000 BCE, but there is a lack of radiocarbon dating) has only been found to be present in three infants. The technique is a mixture of black and red mummies, in that the body was taken apart and reinforced in the style of black mummies but the head was treated in the same way as red mummies are. Animal and human skin were used to wrap the body in the place of clay. Further, the bodies were found to be painted with red ocher while the heads were painted with black manganese.[3]

Tattooing

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At least one Chinchorro mummy bears remarkable witness to the antiquity of tattooing in the region. The remains of a male (Mo-1 T28 C22) with a mustache-like dotted line tattooed above his upper lip and dating to 1880 +/- 100 BCE (2563–1972 cal BCE) is believed to represent the oldest direct evidence of tattooing in the Americas and the fourth-oldest such evidence in the world.[26][27]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Wooden coffin yields oldest Egyptian mummy". The News In science. 2003. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region". UNESCO. 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Arriaza, Bernardo T. (1995). Beyond Death: The Chinchorro Mummies of Ancient Chile. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Standen, Vivien G.; Santoro, Calogero M.; Arriaza, Bernardo T. (2026). "The Artistic Nature of the Chinchorro Mummies and the Archaeology of Grief". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 36 (1): 117–134. doi:10.1017/S095977432510022X.
  5. ↑ "Chinchorro: Trascender a la Muerte – Módulo 1: El descubrimiento". Museo Nacional de Historia Natural. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  6. ↑ González Pizarro, José Antonio (2023). "Pedro P. Canales y los primeros estudios sobre los cementerios indígenas de Arica y Tacna". Revista de Historia. 30 (44).
  7. 1 2 Rivera, Mario A.; Rothhammer, Francisco (1991). "The Chinchorro People of Northern Chile 5000 BC–500 BC: A Review of Their Culture and Relationships". International Journal of Anthropology. 6 (3): 243–255. doi:10.1007/BF02444952.
  8. ↑ "Settlement and Artificial Mummification of the Chinchorro Culture in the Arica and Parinacota Region". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Rivera, Mario A. (1991). "The Preceramic Chinchorro Mummy Complex of Northern Chile: Context, Style and Purpose". Tombs for the Living: Andean Mortuary Practices. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 43–77.
  10. ↑ Sepúlveda, Marcela; Valenzuela, Diego; Cornejo, Luis; Lienqueo, Héctor; Rousselière, Hélène (2014). "Study of Color Pigments Associated with Archaic Chinchorro Mummies and Grave Goods". Heritage Science. 2 (7). doi:10.1186/2050-7445-2-7.
  11. ↑ Guillén, Sonia E. (2005). "Mummies, Cults, and Ancestors: The Chinchorro Mummies of the South Central Andes". Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. pp. 142–149.
  12. ↑ Aufderheide, Arthur C. (2003). The Scientific Study of Mummies. Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-521-81826-1.
  13. ↑ "Making the Dead Beautiful: Mummies as Art". Archaeology. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  14. 1 2 Wise, Karen (2003). "Chinchorro Mummies". Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead. Toronto: Firefly. pp. 166–170.
  15. 1 2 Van Hoesen, J.; Arriaza, B. (2011). "Characterizing The Micromorphology Of Sediments Associated With Chinchorro Mummification In Arica, Chile Using SEM And EDS". Archaeometry. 53 (5): 986–995. Bibcode:2011Archa..53..986V. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2010.00584.x.
  16. 1 2 3 "World's Oldest Mummies Get CT Scan". Smithsonian. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Raghavan, Maanasa; et al. (2015). "Genomic evidence for the Pleistocene and recent population history of Native Americans". Science. 349 (6250) aab3884. Bibcode:2015Sci...349b3884R. doi:10.1126/science.aab3884. PMC 4733658. PMID 26198033.
  18. 1 2 3 DeAraujo, Alice; Vasanthakumar, Archana; Sepulveda, Marcela; Standen, Vivien; Arriaza, Bernardo; Mitchell, Ralph (November–December 2016). "Investigation of the recent microbial degradation of the skin of the Chinchorro mummies of Ancient Chile". Journal of Cultural Heritage. 22: 999–1005. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2015.11.004.
  19. ↑ Karoff, Paul (9 March 2015). "Saving Chilean mummies from climate change". Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Harvard University. Retrieved 12 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Chinchorro Mummies; Interview with Bernardo Arriaza". Artlives. 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  21. 1 2 Guillén, S. E. (2005). "Mummies, Cults, and Ancestors: The Chinchorro Mummies of the South Central Andes". Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium. Gainesville: University of Florida. pp. 142–149.
  22. ↑ Moseley, Michael Edward (2001). The Incas and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru. London: Thames & Hudson.
  23. 1 2 3 Arriaza, Bernardo T.; Standen, Vivien G.; Cassman, Vicki; Santoro, Calogero M. (2008). "Chinchorro Culture: Pioneers of the Coast of the Atacama Desert". In Silverman, Helaine; Isbell, William H. (eds.). The Handbook of South American Archaeology. New York: Springer. pp. 45–58. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-74907-5_3. ISBN 978-0-387-74906-8.
  24. ↑ Marquet, Pablo A.; Santoro, Calogero M.; Latorre, Claudio; Standen, Vivien G.; Abades, Sebastián R.; Rivadeneira, Marcelo M.; Arriaza, Bernardo; Hochberg, Michael E. (2012). "Emergence of social complexity among coastal hunter-gatherers in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (37): 14754–14760. doi:10.1073/pnas.1116724109. PMC 3443180. PMID 22891345.
  25. ↑ Arriaza, Bernardo T. (1995). "Chinchorro Bioarchaeology: Chronology and Mummy Seriation". Latin American Antiquity. 6 (1): 35–55. doi:10.2307/971599. JSTOR 971599.
  26. ↑ Arriaza, Bernardo (1988). "Modelo bioarqueológico para la búsqueda y acercamiento al individuo social" (PDF). Chungara. 21: 9–32.
  27. ↑ Deter-Wolf, Aaron; Robitaille, Benoît; Krutak, Lars; Galliot, Sébastien (February 2016). "The World's Oldest Tattoos" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 5: 19–24. Bibcode:2016JArSR...5...19D. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.007. S2CID 162580662.

Bibliography

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