artificial mummies from the andes

Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 141157UCD 572:903:614.64(=98)Original scientific paper

Artificial Mummies from the Andes

Sonia E. Guilln

Centro Mallqui, The Bioanthropology Foundation Peru, Lima, Peru

A B S T R A C T

In 1997 agricultural workers, turned into looters, found an intact funerary site in the

cloud forest in northeastern Peru. A prompt archaeological rescue project permitted the

recovery of an important collection of mummies and artifacts that are providing impor-

tant insights about the archaeology of the Chachapoya people that established in this

area around 900 AD up to the Inca conquest of this territory around the year 1475. The

mummies recovered showed evidence of cultural practices devised and used to assure

the preservation of the human bodies. Such practices are also reported for among Chin-

chorro and Chiribaya mummies in the Andes. A cultural interpretation of these funer-

ary activities is discussed connecting the practice of the cult to the ancestors to the access

and management of resources and territory.

Key words: artificial mummies, embalming, Andes, Chachapoya, Chinchorro, Inca

Introduction

The two most ancient traditions for ar-tificial mummification in the Old andNew World occur in dry environmentalsettings. Here, however, similarities inritual and significance end. The earliestEgyptian examples date to the 4th Dy-nasty (26132494 BC), including caseswhere the internal organs of the deceasedwere removed and preserved outside thebody. Not until the New Kingdom (15501086 BC) was mummification standard-ized and broadly applied1. As part of anextended sequence of funerary behavior,procedures for artificial mummificationoccupied the liminal space between the

time the soul left the body, immediatelyafter death, and when the sem priestbreathed life into the mummys mouthand thus restored soul to body2,3. The in-dividual, once more complete, then trav-eled west to the afterworld. There was noworldly reincarnation, no cycle of regen-erated human life. While the ancestorsmake had received ongoing attentionfrom their immediate descendants andspecialists, ancestral intervention amongthe living was not significant. Their prep-aration was an elaborate funerary ritualor cult of the dead. In contrast, artificialmummies prepared in the Andes were

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part of ancestor cults, they carried a richcommunity life after death

The worlds oldest artificial mummiesare found, however, not in ancient Egypt,but rather in dry coastal environments ofthe south-central Andes in Per and Chi-le. Small groups of Archaic fishers andhunters, termed today Chinchorro, beganelaborate procedures during the 6th mil-lennium BC that prepared bodies forlong-term display. Though considerablevariation occurred over the several thou-sands of years that the Chinchorro cul-ture persisted, fundamental body treat-ments for a significant portion of the de-ceased involved defleshing, cleaning, andwrapping the bones with fiber, subse-quently replacing the skin. The artificialbody thus created was frequently coveredwith clay, painted with pigment, and thereis evidence for display of some Chinchor-ro mummies for an extended period priorto final, casual disposal48. It is arguedhere that prior to final deposition, the an-cestors continued to play an active role inthe economic and ritual lives of the livingChinchorro, conforming to our definitionsof ancestor cult. The cases of Chiribayaand Chachapoya-Inca mummies are dis-cussed within this context.

This paper, contextualizes artificialmummies in Andean cultures to discusstheir significance for cults and ritual. Italso develops a typology of mummifica-tion practices, based upon these cases,but useful beyond the Andean world. Thediscussion will focus on the meaning forthis long-term Andean tradition.

Andean Mummies

Most pre-Hispanic Andean mummyremains have been recovered from coas-tal environments. Arid conditions are be-neficial for soft tissue preservation andwere enhanced by cultural practices, suchas sealing tombs and wrapping bodies intextiles and thus creating a microenvi-

ronment conducive to preservation. Mum-mified remains from the highlands andjungle areas have been restricted to caseswhere the bodies were protected in bun-dles and deposited in dry contexts: caves,rock-shelters, or permanently snow-cappedmountains. Elsewhere, drastic changesin temperature and humidity did not per-mit the preservation of soft tissue.

The earliest Andean mummy has beenrecovered from Acha 2, a Chinchorro sitein northern Chile9. This naturally mum-mified body was dated at approximately9000 BP. The most ancient artificial mu-mmy was also associated with a Chin-chorro context (7810 BP)5. Overall, thebest combination of factors for preserva-tion of fragile human tissues occurs onthe Atacama desert, in the extreme southof Peru and north coast of Chile.

After preceramic times, the number ofmummified bodies increases. Previous,intensive debates focused on the remainsfrom Paracas (400 BC AD 300). Tello10

discovered more than 50 boot-shapedtombs at the Cerro Grande site. Eachtomb contained 3060 bodies of differentages-at-death and both sexes were repre-sented, filling the structure to the top ofits circular entrance. Tello10 also reportedfunerary structures at the nearby Para-cas site of Cabezas Largas. Tello inferredthat artificial mummification had beenpracticed in these Paracas sites. He be-lieved that the bundles showed carbon-ization, beginning at the lowest levelsand extending upwards. He interpretedthis as the result of incineration that didnot affect soft tissues, bones, or hair,while producing carbonized masses in-side body cavities. Tello argued that arti-ficial preservation had been produced bysmoke, heat, and chemicals. The rigidityof the external wrappings was the resultof salty sea water sprinkled over the bun-dles while exposed to heat. He conclu-ded10 that all body cavities had been evis-

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S. E. Guilln: Peruvian Mummies, Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 141157

cerated and that, in certain cases, theextremities had also been de-fleshed.

As Vreeland and A. Cockburn11 indi-cate, Tello confused the effects of naturalbody decomposition with those of heat.Studies of Paracas mummies and bo-nes12,13 have not provided evidence of ar-tificial preservation procedures in Para-cas. On the other hand, Vreeland and A.Cockburn11 suggest that the leathery con-sistency and dark brown skin color indi-cate intentional desiccation, based on mi-croscopic studies of tissues from a smallbundle that were burned in some partsand associated with charcoal. Manipula-tion of the eyes and nose suggested tothese authors that although eviscerationhad not occurred, external methods mighthave been used to preserve the body. Fur-ther study is needed, however, to convinc-ingly resolve the issue of artificial mum-mification in the Paracas example. Theleathery, dark skin color could have re-sulted from natural degenerative proces-

ses following burial, or alterations in con-ditions after disinterment. Similar con-ditions have been observed in prehistoricmummies from northern Chile and Icaand even in modern autopsies of recentlyburied bodies (M. Allison, pers. comm.,April, 1992). In several examples, all rec-ognizable organs were transformed intoleathery, soft, resinous masses. Chemicalstudies14 suggest that this soft tissue con-dition could be caused by putrefactionpigments such as indican or bilrubinoid,but the exact cause is not known. Expo-sure after excavation might initiate or ac-celerate incipient enzymatic decay assuggested by the considerable number ofamino acids observed in chromatogramsof mummified tissues from northern Chile.

Few mummies from the Peruviannorth coast have been encountered, de-spite hot and dry environmental condi-tions15. Three mummies were recoveredby Ubbelohde-Doering16 at Pacatnam,and a mummy from the Lambayeque val-ley is displayed at the Brunning Museumin Lambayeque. All the bodies were inthe extended position typical of the re-gion prior to the Late Intermediate pe-riod. Mummy bundles from later periodsare usually characterized by poorly pre-served textiles and skeletonized humanbodies17.

Mummies from the Middle Horizon(AD 6001000) and the Late Intermedi-ate period (AD 9001476) have been re-ported from the central and southerncoasts of Peru and from northern Chile.Some of the best illustrated cases arethose found in Ancn18. All reported ob-servations confirm that these were natu-ral mummies, although undetectable ex-ternal procedures may have been used topromote the desiccation of the body19.

There are several cases of human sac-rifices on snow-capped mountains, wherefrozen bodies have been preserved. Theexamples reported for Cerro Aconcagua(Chile) and Cerro el Toro (Argentina)20,21,

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Fig. 1. Map of Peruvian mummy sites.

Cerro El Plomo (Chile)22, Cerro Esme-ralda (Chile)23, Pichu Pichu (Peru)20,24,25,and Ampato (Peru) and Llullaillaco (Ar-gentina)2628 involve the deposition ofyoung individuals as offerings at Incamountain sanctuaries, associated withother offerings. These sacrifices had beenelaborately dressed and deposited in spe-cially-prepared mountain peak shrines,with metal and shell statues. The childrecovered from El Plomo died of hypo-thermia, the body became freeze-driedand the deeper soft tissue layers trans-formed into adipocere24. In most othercases, the bodies became frozen withoutany indication that this was the effect ex-pected. Furthermore, the high number ofbodies destroyed by lightning could sug-gest that the chosen location for deposi-tion of the bodies, and the use of metal ar-tifacts on or around them were set to

attract destructive electrical impact (Mi-guel Zrate, pers. comm., 1996).

Ponce Sangins and Linares Iturral-de29 studied ten Late Horizon mummiesfrom the Bolivian province of Carangas.Three showed abdominal incisions, evi-dence for evisceration. These observa-tions confirm ethnohistorical referencesabout mummification procedures used bythe altiplano Pacaqes30. These sources re-ported that Pacaqes of the Titicaca basineviscerated their dead, interring the vis-cera in jars adjacent to the bodies.

Ethnohistoric documents indicate thatartificial mummification was an Andeanpractice during Late Horizon times (ca.14701532 d. C.), apparently restricted tothe upper class. No artificially preparedroyal Inca mummies are known becauseall were destroyed by the extirpation ofthe idolatries with the arrival of the Spa-nish or otherwise lost3137.

Moreover, Garcilaso de la Vega33 de-scribed the process of preservation forbodies of the royal Incas, who were wor-shipped as gods after death. He reportedthat he saw the body of Inca Viracocha in1560 at the house of Licentiate Polo deOndegardo, the corregidor of the city ofCusco. The Licenciate had transportedfive bodies of the royal Inca from Cuzco toLima. The other male bodies were said tobelong to Tupac Inca Yupanqui and Hua-yna Capac. Women included Mama Run-tu, wife of Inca Viracocha, and MamaOcllo, mother of Huayna Capac. He re-called that the bodies were perfectly pre-served with all their hair in place (Gar-cilaso de la Vega33. Garcilaso quoted chro-nicler Acosta who had also seen them andsaid, The body was so complete and sowell preserved with a certain bitumenthat they appear to be alive. Its eyes weremade of cloth of gold, and so well fittedthat one did not notice the loss of the realones. He also indicated that Acosta men-tioned that Viceroy Marqus de Caetehad ordered the mummies to be removed

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Fig. 2. Face of Ice Maiden from Mount

Ampato.

from the places where they were kept anddestroyed as part of the efforts to extir-pate idolatry. Garcilaso had been very im-pressed with the perfect and beautifulcomplexion of the bodies after so manyyears had transpired. The bodies hadbeen in Lima for twenty years before Aco-sta saw them, and Garcilaso marveled atthe fact that they were still preserved athis viewing, despite different climaticconditions on the coast. He suggestedthat the bodies had been preserved bytaking them first up to the snow line ofthe mountains and thus freeze-drying theflesh. These observations were based onthe common altiplano practice of dehy-drating meat outdoors.

In order to make the presentation ofartificial Andean mummies clear it is ne-cessary to discuss some basic conceptsconcerning the classification of preservedsoft tissue human remains.

Classification of Mummies

The definition of mummy is notstraightforward. The issue is complicatedby problems in differentiating betweennatural mummies and various artificialpreservation methods. As a baseline, mu-mmies may be defined as corpses that re-tain some soft tissue.

In most cases, a combination of factorspromotes body preservation. For exam-ple, the central and northern coasts ofSouth America are both hot and dry, yetbodies do not preserve as they do on thesouth coast. Each area must be consid-ered individually to identify environmen-tal factors and cultural practices that en-courage tissue preservation.

Natural mummies

The category of natural mummies in-cludes those corpses that are preservedas a result of favorable environmentalconditions. Aside from burial in condi-tions that promote spontaneous mummi-

fication, bodies have been preserved aftercatastrophes and abandonment in appro-priate environmental conditions. Exam-ples include bog bodies from Europe38,freeze-dried bodies from Qilakitsoq inGreenland39, and the Alpine Tyrol mu-mmy4042.

The Atacama Desert, from the ex-treme southern coast of Peru to northernChile, enjoys environmental conditionsthat have favored spontaneous naturalmummification from Preceramic times(ca. 10,000 to 4,000 BP) until the present.It has special soil conditions, very rich innitrates that when combined with otherfactors ensures organic preservation. Saltsarrest bacterial growth; the hot, dry con-ditions facilitate rapid desiccation, hencesoft tissues dry before they decay.

Preservation patterns are also affec-ted by body position and gravity. If thebody is seated in a flexed position, thebody fluids drain downward so that en-zyme action destroys the organs, espe-cially those in the lower part of the body.Preservation of the extremities dependson their position relative to the autolyticdecomposition of the organs.

The natural mummification catego-ry would also include instances whenagents such as copper, arsenic, or similaragents have accidentally produced softtissue preservation. Adipocere also stim-ulates soft tissue preservation inadver-tently43,44. Adipocere is a postmortemchemical alteration resulting from mois-ture promoting the transformation of nor-mal adipose tissue into a grayish whiteand wax-like consistency. At the begin-ning of the process, changes are superfi-cial, including the lower dermis and sub-cutaneous tissue; later, deeper adiposedeposits may be involved. Once formed,adipocere is relatively resistant to chemi-cal and temporal effects.

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Artificial mummies

This category includes examples wheresome organic or inorganic substance hasbeen used to enhance body preservation.Three sub-categories can be distingui-shed.

A. Externally prepared mummies: Inthese cases intentional artificial preser-vation is achieved through the use of sub-stances applied directly to and throughthe skin, for example lime (cal viva),balsam, honey, juices, and sand. The bodyis not manipulated internally.

B. Internally prepared mummies:Corpses are manipulated to ensure thatall remaining body parts are preserved(including skin). All or most of the bodycavities are emptied and filled with mate-rials designed to enhance preservation.Some embalming procedures introducechemicals into the arteries, e.g., the pres-ervation of Lenin and Eva Pern. Moreancient examples include the referencesto the mummies of the Inca and of theEgyptian Pharaohs. In all cases, eviscera-tion occurred and tissues were treated toprevent decay.

C. Reconstructed mummies: In addi-tion to internal manipulation, bodies maybe dissembled and then reconstructed.Elimination of viscera is followed by de-fleshing. A variety of materials may beused to reconstruct body shape, followedby re-fleshing of the body. A key exampleof this category is the Chinchorro tradi-tion.

The Chinchorro Mummies

The cultural denomination Chinchor-ro has been associated with preceramicsites and collections that include artifi-cially prepared humanmummies. Tempo-ral associations recognize an early phasebetween 11,000 and 8,000 BP, a middlephase 8,000 to 6,000 BP, and a late onebetween 6,000 and 4,000 BP45. The ar-

chaeological contexts are related to econ-omies dependent on marine resourcescomplemented with terrestrial products.

As noted above, the Chinchorro arethe most ancient examples of artificialmummification in the world. Some, thoughnot all, corpses were de-fleshed, the bonescleansed and wrapped in fibers, and re-constructed. The application of artificialsubstances, including pigment and ani-mal fur, completed the artificially recon-structed body. In beginning an analysis ofChinchorro artificial mummification forms,the development of a typology is useful.

The first typology for Chinchorro mu-mmies was developed by Uhle4648. He de-fined three types, including naturally pre-served bodies as Type 1, artificially pre-pared bodies with evisceration and recon-struction as Type 2, and bodies preservedthrough the application of mud as Type 3.Allison et al.5 revised this typology, theircategories combine features related tobody treatment with disposal activitiesand personal attributes. This categoriza-tion is difficult to apply, it combines im-portant and minor technical featureswithout defining their level of importancein the preparation. The result is an ex-tended number of types that are cumber-some for practical use.

On the other hand, the typology of-fered by Arriaza6 defines three subtypesfor the prepared mummies: black, red,and bandage mummies. He proposes sty-listic and temporal differences for thesecategories. Considering the extended dis-tribution of the mummies, and the usualpoor provenience for the finds, the use ofexternal appearance and finishing detailsas the main criteria for differentiation be-comes a stylistic system rather than atechnical tool to use in the study of mum-mies. The following categories presentedhere are based upon the typologies pro-posed by Uhle46 and Allison et al.5. Thisclassification is based on the study of themummies from the site Morro 158. The

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site Morro 15 in Arica, Chile was exca-vated in 1985 by Guillermo Focacci. It in-cluded 16 artificial mummies and onlyone naturally desiccated body. Therewere three adults and 14 children rang-ing from a full-term fetus up to a child1012 years old; all the children and thetwo adult females were artificially mum-mified. The mummies are associated tothe mid-late Chinchorro with a calibratedradiocarbon date of 4120 75 BP (2170BC). The materials are part of the collec-tion of the Azapa Museum of the Univer-sity of Tarapac in Arica, Chile. Almostall the following categories to pre- pareChinchorro mummies were present.

Type 1: Naturally desiccated mummies.This category includes partially orcompletely painted bodies.

Type 2: Mummies that show both inter-nal and external processing. Fillingmaterial varied (mud, straw), as didthe manner in which body cavities andthe extremities were altered.

Type 3: External application of mud. Mu-mmification was attained by the ex-clusive use of a layer of sand or mud.

Type 4: Desiccation through applicationof heat. In addition to heat, eviscera-tion might also be involved but no in-ternal and/or external reconstruction.

Type 5: Partial de-fleshing, with partialor complete evisceration. Bodies par-tially or completely de-fleshed, usuallythrough posterior cuts, with efforts fo-cused on rough external reconstruc-tion. Dense layers of unfired red claywere used to reconstruct body volume,mainly in the chest and abdominal re-gions.

Type 6: Chinchorro figurines. Often mis-taken for artifacts, this category in-cludes human or animal bones enca-sed with unfired clay, with the finalproduct resembling clay figurines.

As in most Chinchorro contexts offer-ings were scarce, most of them related tothe extraction and processing of marineresources. There were no food offerings.The bodies were dressed and wrapped orcovered with leather cloaks, either of ca-melid, sea lion, or sea birds such as peli-can. The exterior wrappings consisted ofeither one or two reed mats.

It appears that all the mummies weredeposited at the same time, or very closein time, in a typical pattern of disarray,with no clear distribution pattern. Thebodies intruded one into the other. Mostprobably some mummies were destroyedbecause of the pressure from other over-lying mummies and the changes in pres-ervation conditions following their recov-ery.

The artificial mummies had been pre-pared in order to be kept for a period oftime. Some studies have reported thatthey were re-painted and fixed49,50. How-ever, the following questions remain: Whywere they kept? For how long? Wherewere they kept? And why were they bur-ied or disposed of? There were greater ef-forts to mummify the bodies of childrenrather than for adults. So far no patternsof age and sex distribution are clear fromthis assemblage.

There were no indications of social dis-tinction and the complicated post-mor-tem body treatment was mostly devotedto children. When children, sometimes asyoung as a fetus, were preserved, theremust have been a purpose related to theimportance of this age group. In somemodern societies, children appear ex-pendable after death and their funerarytreatment is less complicated and lesscostly. It might be expected that an egali-tarian society might not have expendedsuch efforts on fetuses. Assuming thatthe availability of maritime and terres-trial resources was not the main concernfor the Chinchorro, development of spe-

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cial social mechanisms might have be-come necessary to protect access to re-sources.

The Chinchorro used formal or segre-gated cemetery areas away from the hou-ses once they became sedentary. Burialgrounds, like those on the northern slo-pes of the Morro de Arica, show evidencefor very long use. The emergence of for-mal disposal areas for the dead and thepreparation of mummies can be related tothe interest to control access to key re-sources such as fresh water, fog-lands,and highly productive marine areas..

The mummies of the children appearto have been used for display, or kept inplaces where they could be curated.Maintaining mummies of children andsome adults was important. They werekept for a time, when a special event hap-pened, like the death of an adult, theywere then wrapped up and buried collec-tively without special concern for theirpreservation after burial. During inter-ment the bodies did not receive more of-ferings than those garments and artifactsalready placed with the body when themummy was prepared. The lack of foodofferings is especially interesting. Thereis nothing to suggest that there was aninterest in the well-being of the mummy,or any interest in the soul of the personas reflected by its mummy.

Maintaining the mummies for display,or near domestic areas, could reflect acult to kin members, not necessarily toancestors, since the mummies were most-ly young individuals with no descen-dants. These mummies could have re-flected the kin group as a whole, and fromthat perspective the larger the group ofmummies the more guarantee there wasto maintaining access to economic resour-ces such as beach areas, large shellfishbanks, or areas where fresh water wasplentiful. The kin group as a whole wasthen available for direct observation, in-cluding its deceased members, to main-tain rights to productive zones to meetneeds of the living members of the group.

There are various possible explana-tions for their subsequent burial. At somepoint, either the mummies became toonumerous, the group reached its maxi-mum size, protection of access benefitswas not important anymore, or a differ-ent mechanism for such protection wasdevised, or some important individualdied, or changes were defined by remov-ing a group of mummies from display.Whatever the reason, a group of mum-mies was disposed of together with at

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Fig. 3. Artificial Chinchorro Mummy from

site Morro 1-5, Arica, Chile.

least one or few natural mummies. In thecase of Morro 15 there were 15 artificialmummies along with one natural one.The interment was collective, in a desig-nated burial zone, but not too far from thedomestic area. This behavior points to acollective concern.

The most important issue appears notto be the formal disposal areas, but theneed to prepare and keep the mummies;the disposal of natural and/or artificiallymummified bodies was secondary to mu-mmification and not the main feature ofthe funerary behavior. The lack of offer-ings and organization of the disposedbodies indicates that this deposition wasfinal.

The Chinchorro burial practices devel-oped into a pattern named Quiani. Therewas a shift from a group perspective to agreater focus on the individual. As such italso involved a change from protectingrights to resources to focusing on prop-erty rights. No mummies were preparedand individual differentiation among bu-rials became more evident; the bodieswere buried in individual tombs (wellmarked outside) and received a greatervariety of offerings, including food items.

In summary, the Chinchorro devel-oped a very complicated and sophistica-ted funerary behavior that must havebeen integrated into the way the groupsfunctioned, probably by protecting accessto some crucial subsistence element suchas water or other formof primary production.

Chiribaya

In the coast of the extreme south ofPeru, in the lower part of the Osmore val-ley, the Chiribaya culture flourished be-tween AD 900 to 135051. The cultural his-tory of this area around the modern portof Ilo, can be traced back some 10,000years. In Preceramic times groups of theChinchorro tradition settled in this area.There was an intense population dyna-

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Fig. 4. Natural Chiribaya mummy. Male.

Fig. 5. Detail showing calcined exposed cra-

nial bones of artificially prepared Chiribaya

mummy. Female.

mic in a corridor that included the Titi-caca lake basin in the east down to thecoastal areas of the Osmore river valley.

The Tiwanaku culture that developedin the Titicaca area had a strong expan-sive move in the Andes. This process thatintensified between AD 725 to 950 had astrong influence on the Chiribaya. Thiscoastal group did not develop into a verycomplex society. As a chiefdom their econ-omy was based on the exploitation of ma-ritime and agricultural resources.

The archaeology in the area has notbeen intensely studied. This is probablyconnected to the lack of remains of monu-mental architecture and artifacts madefrom precious metals. Nevertheless, thearea presents extraordinary preservationconditions for organic materials. Mummyremains, as well as textiles and wood ar-tifacts are commonly seen as debris leftby tomb robbers that have plagued thisarea since antiquity.

The rescue and research archaeologyprojects conducted by Programa Conti-suyo, and later by Centro Mallqui haverecovered hundreds of mummies andtheir funerary context. Most of the bodiesof humans, camelids and dogs buried inthe area desiccated naturally. This condi-tion was produced by the extreme aridityof the area, the high salt content of thesoil, and the characteristics of the funer-ary practice. It appears that the bodieswere dressed and buried very shortly af-ter death. The exterior wrappings of thefunerary bundle varied in size and num-ber of pieces used. Nevertheless, it wasan important element conducive to pres-ervation.

The bodies were disposed of in typicalrectangular cut tombs, with the long sidewalls lined with stone. The body was pla-ced at one end and surrounded with offer-ings for the afterlife. The grave goods in-cluded food and beverage presented inthe characteristic tricolor Chiribaya pot-

tery which was decorated with geometricdesigns. Other associated artifacts reflec-ted the activity of the individual, includ-ing weaving or farming tools, or minia-tures of rafts and boats.

Important ritual elements in burialswere bags with coca leaves. The bags andthe textiles are all made of wool. Theweavings are part of a very well devel-oped and artistic tradition. Children alsoreceived important funerary attention.The offerings include miniatures of pot-tery and toys. The amount of coca leaves,and offerings reflect the importance ofthe individual within their society. Thecemeteries are highly specialized areasaway from agricultural land and nearbythe settlement areas. The burials weremarked with posts, and the contents havebeen very instrumental in the reconstruc-tion of this society.

Almost all the Chiribaya mummieswere preserved naturally. Aufderheide52

dissected 135 bodies and did not report

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Fig. 6. X-ray showing Chiribaya pot inside

the chest cavity of Chiribaya man.

any embalmed bodies. Nevertheless, outof 500 natural mummies housed at theAlgarrobal Museum in the Ilo valley,there is a very small group of artificiallyprepared mummies. In 1996 bodies thatshowed evisceration cuts were acciden-tally spotted among the looted mummiesat the site of Chiribaya Baja. We con-ducted a rescue excavation in the areaand were able to recover complete con-texts that include this type of mummy.Further work has allowed us to recoverprepared bodies from other Chiribayasites such as Loreto Viejo and Algodonal.

The Chiribaya contexts that includeartificially mummified bodies do not dif-fer highly from typical burials of the cul-ture. Nevertheless, the analysis indicatesthat the mummies were either kept aboveground for a long period after death, orthey were visited and the textile wrap-pings were changed and more offeringswere presented.

The prepared bodies show long ab-dominal cuts used to empty the body cavi-ties that were then thoroughly cleaned.The spaces were filled with raw wool,food such as corn, tubers of manioc andsweet potato, and coca leaves. One veryold male showed via radiography, a smallceramic jar containing coca leaves whichhad been placed inside the chest. Thepreparation process must have been veryfast and thorough as there is no impor-tant evidence of fly and/or beetle activityassociated to the decomposition processof the body. The opening was closed withwool yarn. The skin was not cured, al-though some cleaning must have been ap-plied and used to prevent insect activity.

Most of the prepared bodies showedthat over time the outer wrappings hadbeen replaced or covered with new cloaks.At this point it is difficult to ascertainwhen this happened. In the case of a30-year-old woman the top part of thecranium had become whitened and cal-cined from exposure to the sun, while the

covered parts were still dark. Moreover,the relatives and friends of the diseasedhad used black yarn to complement thedark hair that the head of the woman hadlost whilst on display and participating incommunity and family rituals.

The characteristics of these mummiesand the evidence of ritual activity followclosely the descriptions of early Spanishchroniclers about royal Inca mummies.Considering that the Chiribaya predatethe Inca we have here the precursor of atradition that continued through time. Itis still elusive to address why only somebodies were prepared. There are no clearindicators why few individuals among theChiribaya were treated after death. It isclear that some of the bodies participatedin a prolonged ritual life among the liv-ing, while others were buried promptlyand were on occasions brought out oftheir tombs or visited.

The Chiribaya were not a highly strat-ified society, although some individualswere clearly distinguished and had a lar-ger number of offerings. Age or sex werenot the key for differences. At some pointboth the prepared mummies and the bod-ies of those that desiccated naturallywere interred in the prepared tombs,clearly marked, and including elementsthat assured food, tools, souvenirs andsacred elements such as coca leaves wereincluded for the afterlife.

Keeping the mummies among the liv-ing is a pattern described for the Incas,and which is already present among thiscoastal group. It is reasonable to assumethat similar concepts of ancestor cultsand beliefs of the afterlife were sharedamong other Andean societies who sharecommon ancestors through history.

Chachapoya-Inca

More recently, in 1997 discoveries atLa Laguna de los Condores in the cloudforest in northeastern Peru have facili-

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tated our understanding of the Inca mu-mmification process. An emergency pro-ject allowed the recovery of 219 mummiesat a site originally built by the Chacha-poya people in a remote cliff overlooking alake53,54.

The site was found by looters butprompt archaeological work recoveredunique evidence of these peoples. Thishumid area was the one with the least ex-pectations for the preservation of organicmaterial. In fact, the archaeology of theChachapoya culture has had to rely on itsimpressive monumental architecture andpottery for cultural reconstruction. Inthis case, the careful selection of the loca-tion for funerary remains along with thecultural practices to prepare the bodieswere responsible for this exceptional pre-servation.

Site LC1 at Laguna de los Condoresincludes six funerary houses built by theChachapoya people. This society is datedto the Late Intermediate period of An-dean prehistory between AD 800 to 1470.Although the archaeology of the area canstill be considered underdeveloped, eth-nohistorical documents present the Cha-chapoya as a series of ethnic groups ofwarriors and farmers. These people set-tled in a large area encompassed by theMaraon river to the west and the Hu-allaga in the east.

Their fierce character is praised in theaccounts of their resistance to Inca domi-nation55. Eventually the size and greaterresources of the aggressive army won andthere was a long period of Inca domina-tion. This is clearly perceived at Lagunade los Condores, the new administratorsemptied most of the funerary rooms, ad-ded a new one, and replaced the contentswith the members of this new Chacha-poya-Inca society.

The old Chachapoya contents of thefunerary rooms remained, but their hu-man bones appear to have been put to oneside in Mausoleum 1. Examination of thebones shows that the old funerary tradi-tion involved secondary interment of thedead. The bones of the de-fleshed bodieswere put together in bundles that also in-cluded hair, some remnants of soft tissueand personal objects. These bundles weretied up with rope, wrapped with cottoncloth and placed either in baskets or asfunerary bundles. Red pigment had beenapplied to some of the bones whilst sev-eral showed evidence of having beengnawed by animals, and others had beenworked with sharp instruments.

The rooms were divided in two levels,the roofs and specially made balconieswere used for funerary bundles that con-tained the body of the new administra-tors. The quantity and type of offeringspresented to these bodies indicate thatthis funerary site was used for an elite

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Fig. 7. Artificial Chachapoya mummy. Male.

group. This statement is reinforced bythe find of a large number of quips, thememory device of cords with knots usedby the Inca to store data56.

All the mummies recovered at the sitewere artificially prepared. This washinted by the simple fact that none of thebodies had the usual smell of a naturalmummy. Some had an antiseptic smell.The corpses had been dried and forcedinto a very tightly bound position, suchtreatment produced a very light and com-pact package easy to transport in thehighly rough terrain in the area.

The preparation of the bodies musthave involved a lengthy process sugges-ted by the large accumulation of pupae ofblue flies that had the time to set over theuntreated parts of the body and lay theireggs. Nevertheless, insects usually didnot cause extensive damage. Furthermo-re, there is no single presence of dermes-tid beetles, which would suggest advan-ced decomposition. The artificial procedu-re was able to control the natural courseof events.

There was no space or conditions forthe bodies to have been prepared at thesite. Therefore, the mummies neededtransport over some distance or evenfrom the site of Llaqtacocha57 at the otherside of the lake. The most drastic stepwas to enlarge the anus in order to re-move the contents of the intestinal cavity.This area was cleaned and allowed to dry,although it was not filled up, a cloth plugwas placed to close the enlarged opening.In most cases the plug was replaced untilthe last one was a clean package of cloth.The thoracic cavity was left intact abovethe diaphragm, allowing important ob-servations on health conditions amongthese people in the future.

The process of artificial mummifica-tion would have taken a long time in or-der to prepare the skin. Most hair on thebody and the head was lost with this pro-

cedure. The materials used to cure theskin have not been fully identified. Thereis a strong possibility that native plantssuch as poleo andmua were used. Smallpackages containing odorous leaves ofthese plants were placed near the mum-mies.

Facial features were conserved usingraw cotton to fill in the nostrils, under-neath the cheeks and inside the mouth.The prepared dry and light body wasdressed up, a cloth was usually placedaround the neck to keep the head verti-cal. The exterior wrappings include a se-ries of cotton cloaks. A large number ofthe exterior wrappings were embroideredwith typical Chachapoya designs used inChachapoya friezes53 and some exhibitembroidered faces, a very unique feature.

Women and men, adults and childrenin this group were all artificially pre-pared. Repented looters described thatwhen the site was found intact, several ofthe bundles were connected one to theother, and they were facing the lake.Clearly the Inca following their politicalprogram had assimilated local membersinto the new administrative group. Oth-erwise they had incorporated local cul-tural traits in their clothing and the prac-tices used to prepare and present theirdead. Although some natural mummieshave been reported for other Chachapoyasites, these are most probably variationsof the Chachapoya burial pattern, the ar-tificial procedure must have been impor-ted from the Cuzco area.

The use of the funerary rooms is aclear statement on domination as theconquering group replaced the old ances-tors who were pushed to a less importantplace and the new group took over the sa-cred funerary site. The Laguna de losCondores, as other water sources in theAndes, had a sacred significance as a placeof origin. The long and bloody conqueringprocess was confirmed by clear statements

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of control over the space and the land-scape. The spiritual war was also won.

As in other Andean areas and culturesthe funerary behavior exhibited by boththe Chachapoya and the Chachapoya-Inca at Laguna de los Condores, reflectsthe strong importance of a cult to the an-cestors. It is clear that the mummieswere visited, new offerings were brought,and in several cases the presentation ofthe wrappings was modified and impro-ved. The visits must have involved thepresentation of food and beverages, liquidsthat have left stains over the bundles.

The introduction of Christianity in thenew world, with the extirpation of idola-tries involved the destruction of mostmummies and ritual places. The use ofthe sites at Laguna de los Condores con-tinued well into colonial times, maybe asa hide away place or a place too remote tobe affected by the evangelization pro-grams. One way or the other, Christianelements such as a cross, and post contactartifacts were incorporated in the offer-ings presented to the ancestors, The con-tinuity of the cult prevailed. These mum-mies are a significant find since they arethe only remaining Inca period artificialmummies that reflect some of the de-scriptions of the early chroniclers, andare also the first mummies found in thecloud forest in Peru.

Conclusions

Artificial mummification developedand reached its greatest sophistication inboth Egypt and in the Andes. Artificialprocedures assured the preservation ofbodies even in areas as the cloud forestwhere intense humidity does not favorpreservation.

It is clear that the techniques of artifi-cial mummification developed in placeswhere natural conditions favor corpse de-siccation. This phenomenon was appar-ently observed by ancient settlers and in

each example, they attempted to repli-cate and enhance natural corpsepreservation.

In Egypt, efforts were placed uponpreserving a body that when united withthe spirit or soul following mummifica-tion would persist as a whole individualin the afterlife. Intact ascent to the after-life became an increasing preoccupationof both elite and commoners alike.

The Chinchorro example is more enig-matic. We have no written record, only along-standing coastal tradition for funer-ary ostentation58. In addition, such com-plex disposal forms may be unexpected inpre-state societies. Ethnographically, how-ever, we know that artificial mummifica-tion is not restricted to complex societies,as in the ancient Egyptian example. Onecompelling explanatory argument followsupon theories of interment behavior5961

that link funerary ritual and disposal fa-cilities to ancestrally-validated rights tothe control of significant and scarce re-sources. Rights to fresh water or espe-cially productive fishing loci could beamong those considered significant, thoughas cultural beings we must realize thatimportance need not be judged on a strict-ly economic basis. Clearly, at one level,the Chinchorro mummification procedurerepresents a unique and complex disposalform, while at another this is yet anotherway to engage the ancestors in the lives oftheir descendants, thus comprising anancestor cult, a common feature of seden-tary Archaic groups8.

Artificial mummification is not restri-cted to complex societies like the ancientEgyptians. Mummification was usedamong aboriginal Australians, Arcticpeople, and others62. Nevertheless, as acultural practice it is considered a trait ofcomplex groups and presumably shouldnot be present among prehistoric Archaicgroups. The Chinchorro culture presentsa clear association of a sophisticated fea-ture (artificial mummification) and an

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egalitarian society. The great variabilityamong the mummies is another impres-sive feature of the Chinchorro artificialmummies.

In the cases of artificial mummies ofthe Chiribaya and the Chachapoya-Inca63

these are clearly part of a long tradition.Although no derivation can be proposedfrom the very ancient Chinchorro prac-tice, there are ideas that might have pas-sed through and influenced the Chiribaya3,000 years later.

In both the Chiribaya and the Cha-chapoya-Inca mummies are important el-ements in the life of their communitiesconcerned with ancestral cult. The ances-tors are kept alive and active, providingand reinforcing the sense of identity andpower over the territory.

Acknowledgement

Horst Seidler has been the drive, theheart and the brain of the Austrian in-volvement in Peruvian bioarchaeologicalprojects. Some of them such as MuseumLeymebamba have flourished as an im-portant resource for tourism and com-munity development in the region. Hiswarmth and his character are part of thelocal history of the town. He has broughtresources, scientists and long lastingfriends such as Minister Elisabeth Geh-rer. Other friends such as Peter Mah-ringer and Fritz Astl, who are not with usanymore, are examples of those goodfriends of Horst that have contributed tohis dreams and projects.

R E F E R E N C E S

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S. E. Guilln

Centro Mallqui, Calle Bilbao 3507, Lima 17, Per

e-mail: [email protected]

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MUMIJE S ANDA

S A @ E T A K

Godine 1997., skupina poljoprivrednika prona{la je netaknuto groblje u {umamasjeveroisto~nog Perua. Ubrzo je uslijedio arheolo{ki projekt spa{avanja koji je omogu-}io otkri}e va`ne kolekcije mumija i arheolo{kih nalaza. Nalazi su dali uvid u kulturunaroda Chachapoja koji je nastavao ovaj prostor u vremenu od 900. godine pa sve dogodine 1475 kada su Inke zauzele ovaj teritorij. Otkrivene mumije pru`aju dokaze ona~inima o~uvanja ljudskih tijela koje je ovaj narod otkrio i koristio. Na sli~an na~in suna~injene i mumije naroda Chinchorro i Chiribaya. Kulturolo{ka interpretacija aktiv-nosti povezanih s pokopom raspravljena je u svjetlu prakticiranja kulta predaka tekori{tenja dostupnih prirodnih materijala i prostora.

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artificial mummies from the andes

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