The world’s oldest Chinchorro mummies are now a World Heritage site

the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed in its famous and prestigious list the Chilean colony north of Arica and Parinacota, where the culture developed Chinchorro, creator of a technique of mummification long before the Egyptian, generally the most widespread.

In a virtual session held in Fuzhou, China, the UN agency recognized the oldest mummies de Chinchorro, which show an artificial technique for the preservation of the dead developed in this region of Chile.

Since these discoveries were made at the beginning of the 20th century, it is suspected that these mummies could be dated 5000 BC and that they manifested a technique at least two thousand years before that which spread from Egypt.

With this nomination “the UNESCO valid internationally, through various experts, that the implantations and artificial mummification of the culture Chinchorro has exceptional value, which is of global importance, ”said the Chilean anthropologist Bernardo Arriaza, one of the people responsible for the application. “The exceptional value of the oldest process of universal mummification of bodies in the world is thus recognized”, welcomed the Chilean President Sebastián Piñera on his Twitter account.

With the Chinchorros mummies, Chile already has six heritage sites, according to UNESCO standards: Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Offices, Rapa Nui National Park, Chiloé Churches, Sewell Camp, the historic area of ​​the port city of Valparaíso and the road system Qhapaq Ñan-Andean.

The Chinchorro

The Chinchorro lived by hunting, fishing and gathering more than 7,000 years ago, in a desert area that covered the north of present-day Chilean territory and southern Peru. So far, some 300 mummies have been found in different states of integrity. Since 1994, they are classified as red mummies, black mummies and bandaged.

Chinchorro’s mummification technique involved removing organs, viscera, and tissue. They then removed the skin from the body and reconstructed the structure of the body with sticks and animal hair. The last step was to sew a short mane of black hair to the scalp of the deceased. Finally, they painted the mummies black and red with colored earths, pigments, manganese and iron oxide.

“These are bodies that very finely worked by specialists; there is a subtlety, a creative masterpiece of these early populations, ”said Arriaza, also director of the Chinchorro Management Center at the University of Tarapacá de Arica (UTA).

Unesco will preserve three sites: the Archaeological Museum of UTA, which operates in the old part of the city of Arica. In his basement, mummies were found which are on display right where they were found.

The second site preserved by UNESCO consists of the slopes of the Morro de Arica, an iconic promontory about 100 meters high, located a few meters from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where they were found cemeteries with mummies.

Finally, the third heritage site is located in the municipality of Camarones, 75 km south of Arica, where there are remains of habitats and more mummies.

Intoxicated mummies

The reasons why they mummified their dead are an enigma. Arriaza launched in 2005 the “hydroarsenicism hypothesis”, referring to a possible arsenic poisoning due to the water consumed by the Chinchorro in their establishments in Camarones.

In this area, the levels of arsenic in the water they were very high, which would have caused premature births, miscarriages, children who are underweight and have high infant mortality. Under this postulate, mummification would be “an emotional response of the parents to the pain of these losses; they painted them and every day this ornamental technique became more elaborate, ”explained anthropologist Bernardo Arriaza.

The authorities of Arica created the Chinchorro Marka Corporation to administer and protect these archaeological sites which are already a World Heritage Site.

mm / ds