Death Cult Mummies Discovered In Desert

[trlrtrash13]

Preserved by one of Earth's driest climates, a long-buried corpse in Chile's Atacama Desert retains centuries-old skin, hair, and clothing (file picture).

Naturally dehydrated corpses like this probably inspired the region's ancient Chinchorro people to actively mummify their dead, scientists speculate in a new study. The practice, researchers suggest, took off during a time of natural plenty and population growth, when the Chinchorro were better able to innovate and develop culturally.

Living in fishing villages along the coasts of Chile and Peru, the Chinchorro had begun mummifying skeletons by 5050 B.C., thousands of years before the Egyptians. Archaeologists have long wondered how the practice—and a related cult of death—arose, with some speculating it had been imported from the notably wetter Amazon Basin (regional map).

"Our study is one of the few to document the emergence of social complexity due to environmental change"—in this case, climate shifts that desiccated the Atacama, study leader Pablo Marquet said.

National Geographic

[Midnight Marauder]

Eww.

[trlrtrash13]

He's waiting for his ship to come in.

[walruskkkch]

 

climate shifts that desiccated the Atacama

Obviously caused by Ancient SUVs.

[masterminion]

I wondered where dad got off to

[Vel]

That is fascinating to look at. He's been dead for so long that the yuck factor is really gone and you can focus on all the details.

[moomin]

John Kerry, it's really, really time to lay of the drugs, m'kay, man?

[walruskkkch]

THe good news for the mummy, he's next in line for the flu shot at the Federal Obamacare clinic.

[Vel]

The dude must have died young because it appears he has all of his teeth.

[masterminion]

it looks like he's begging, with a cup in his hand. He really picked a bad spot it seems. All he needs is a dessicated dog sitting next to him.