Fishermen of the fog: The Changos and their ancestors-2008
Cuchillo enmangado con restos de tejido y estera . Madera y sílice. Costa de lquique - Pescadores Tempranos . Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Museo Regional de lquique.
Momia "negra" de adulto. Recubierta con ceniza y arcilla , peluca de cabello humano. Costa de Ar ica - Pescadores Tempranos. Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Museo de Historia Natural, Valparaíso.
Momia "negra" de infante con máscara. Recubierta con ceniza y arcilla, peluca de cabello humano. Costa de Arica - Pescadores Tempranos. Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Museo de Historia Natural,Valparaíso.
Figurilla antropomorfa modelada. Arcilla y ceniza sobre estructura de madera, pigmento roj o. Costa de lquique - Pescadores Tempranos. Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Museo Regional de lquique.
Momia "negra" de neonato,con faldellín. Recubierta con arcilla y ceniza ,faldellín de fibra de camélido. Costa de Arica - Pescadores Tempranos. Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Manuel Blanco Encalada, MCHAP Pe-278.
Momia "negra" de neonato,. Recubierta con arcilla y ceniza ,faldellín de fibra de camélido. Costa de Arica - Pescadores Tempranos. Complejo Chinchorro 5500 - 2000 a.c. Colección Manuel Blanco Encalada, MCHAP Pe-278.
(Español) Momificación artificial
The chinchorro fishermen lived a simple life, but practiced a complex mortuary ritual that included the artificial mummification of their dead,
The simple way of life of the Chinchorro, who settled on the coasts of northern Chile and southern Peru between 5000 and 1500 years B.C., stands in stark contrast to their complex ritual treatment of the dead. The ancestor worship they practiced led these nomadic fishermen to preserve the bodies of their dead through an elaborate mummification process. The oldest technique was used to produce the so-called “black mummies,” while the method that came later was simpler, producing the “red mummies.” In the first the body was dismembered and all soft tissue was removed. The skeleton was dried and reinforced with sticks and plant fibers, then the body was remodeled with ash and clay and covered with black paint. In the later mummification process only the innards and brain were removed and the body was reinforced with sticks and covered with red paint. Evidence of repeated repair to the mummies has led to the suggestion that they were used regularly in rituals or that they were left out in the open for extended periods of time. This kind of artificial mummification predates the first Egyptian mummies by around 3,000 years.