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FOR KIDS: The origins of mummies
Scientists speculate on why ancient South Americans started preserving their dead
Web edition: August 27, 2012
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South America’s Chinchorro people mummified their dead, like this individual, long before the ancient Egyptians.
Bernardo Arriaza
Though ancient Egyptians are famous for their mummies, Americans — South Americans — practiced the preservation method first. In a desert coastal region of what is now northern Chile and southern Peru, the Chinchorro people began mummifying their dead about 7,000 years ago. Now scientists have proposed an explanation for how this practice got its start: The Chinchorro were just copying nature.
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Citations
B. Bower. Good times led to grisly custom. Science News Online, August 13, 2012. [Go to]
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