Chinchorro mummies

After the geoglyphs in the Azapa valley, we went to the museum of the Chinchorro mummies. These are from about 15000 BC, way before the Egyptian or Sumerian empires in the world. The older mummies were preserved by removing the soft internal tissues and the dry and sunny climate preserved tjem without any other process. The later mummies were covered in black soik from one of the beaches so they looked black. Then came the era of the red mummies where they were covered with ochre and clay to make them look alive. Later came a period where the mummies were covered with Calcium to look white.
These people lived in small groups of about 30-40 people. So that the group doesn't grow bigger, they had a horrific tradition of sacrificing the female children. The museum had small mummified girls and even foetus and embryos. All were mummified.Read more