Lifestyle+and+Times+of+the+Chinchorro+Mummies

Lifestyle & Times

Beliefs & Practices Archaeological record and radiocarbon dating inform us that Chinchorro mummification practices were a local occurrence which was developed in the Africa area in Northern Chile.

The primary reasoning for mummification that has been agreed upon by archaeologists studying these Chinchorro mummies, are that it was for spiritual or religious reasons. The mummification procedure reveals a complex belief in the afterlife of which they adhered to. Unlike the Egyptian mummies, the Chinchorro mummies were not buried in a tomb or grave but rather were made to “feast with the living.” In other words, remain a part of the natural world. However in addition to this it seems that the supernatural world was one of which they believed in. Judging by the complexity of their mummification methods, it can be assumed that the supernatural world held a higher importance that the economical and political spheres of their society.

Diet The Chinchorro mummies have heavily worn teeth and thus this shows that their diet consisted of meat. Their diet consisted primarily of seafood due to their location. Therefore their technology was aimed at fishing, collecting plants along river mouths and hunting both sea mammals and wild birds. However due to their continuous fishing in the Pacific Ocean, it is speculated that this caused chronic ear irritations and impairment. Furthermore the manual task of hunting for food carved their bodies into being muscular and strongly built.

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