Mysterious Mummies

We do not know why Chinchorro practiced artificial mummification but some interpretations may be made based on what is known from other cultures.

 

The adoration of children seems to be a well supported beginning hypothesis. As Arriaza (1995a) discusses, two early sites in Camarones contain mummified children but non-mummified adults, suggesting the beginning of this practice may have laid with children. Mortuary rituals paid to fetuses (the stillborn) are very unusual cross-culturally, yet the Chinchorro mummified their fetuses. Mummification may have particularly been thought to help continue life in these instances. The Chinchorro may have also felt that it was more painful to lose children (Arriaza 1995a). Further, Camarones water is high in arsenic which would have contributed to an increased rate of miscarriages and infant mortality. This high rate of loss would’ve needed an equal process of healing. Preservation and decoration may have gone together to allow the body to be held onto for a time before parents were able to let go (Arriaza 2015). All Chinchorro infants that have been found as of 2005 were artificially mummified, not naturally mummified, perhaps suggesting differences in beliefs around the meaning or  importance of these different mummification techniques (Arriaza et al. 2005).

 

A second hypothesis put forward is one of visual stimulus. The Atacama desert predisposes bodies to mummification. If observed, natural mummies could have inspired the desire to replicate this practice (Arriaza 1995a).

 

Other ecological factors could have affected beliefs around the dead as well, as the region was prone to natural disasters such as tidal waves and earthquakes. These high stresses may have driven spiritual explanations and a desire for elaborate funerary ritual (Arriaza 1995a).

 

In a similar line, mortuary rituals cross-culturally have been viewed as protective, healing or pleasing to the spirit(s) and this allows more possible interpretations around mummification. Spiritual beliefs help cope with death and suffering and console the living. Such rituals may likely be viewed as aiding both the deceased and those left behind (Arriaza 1995a). The desire to preserve bodies in other societies has been linked to belief that the dead continue to interact with the living  (and that the body gives the spirit a place to do so) (Arriaza 1995a). In this way, mummification possibly allowed the dead to continue living in a new state and gave loved ones a transitional period before burial. Mummies may have acted as a “communication medium” for a potentially dangerous spiritual realm or simply allowed the connection of the spiritual to the living world through a deceased relative (Arriaza 1995a, 62). In a reciprocal relationship, both the living and dead may have helped each other with their spiritual needs.

 

The preservation of the body with the attention to recreating the original shape of the dead may have worked to call forward the individual spirit's essence (Arriaza 1995a), again possibly aiding in achieving spiritual benefits or perhaps enforcing the living's connection to the individual. Many in other cultures believe the soul cannot survive without bodily preservation and thus mummification may have been further viewed as aiding in transition to the afterlife (Arriaza 1995a).

 

Both the Inca and Muisca Indians of the Andes worshipped their mummies and saw them as bringers of good fortune. In these cultures, the mummies were used in life activities, something which was likely the case for the Chinchorro as well. Mummification was a demanding funerary practice and as such demonstrated the importance of the dead in the lives of the living (Arriaza 1995a). Some mummies are evidenced to have been repainted several times, suggesting their continued use and an associated effort of care (Sepúlveda et al. 2014). Further, as the Inca later conquered the Chinchorro’s region, it is possible their practices are influenced by Chinchorro history (Arriaza 1995a).

 

The tying of cords around the fingers, as occurred with the later mud mummies, may have been believed to keep the soul from departing too quickly as in the Layni culture of Bolivia (Arriaza 1995a).