Research published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal suggests reinterpreting the Chinchorro mummies – more than 7,000 years old – as “the oldest works of funerary art in the world”. The study, led by anthropologist-physicist Bernardo Arriaza, academic at the Higher Research Institute of the University of Tarapacá and director of the Chinchorro Management Center (belonging to the house of studies), suggests that these mummified bodies could be understood within the framework of an “archaeology of mourning”, that is to say as a social process aimed at elaborating loss.
Arriaza argues that the mortuary practices of this pre-Columbian culture in northern Chile went beyond the simple preservation of bodies. In his article, he argues that members of this coastal society acted as highly skilled craftsmen, reconstructing bodies using complex techniques including the use of clay, pigments and plant fibers.
The central hypothesis of the work states that these practices must be read in a more human approach, in which the treatment of the body of the deceased acquires a symbolic, therapeutic and emotional character. In particular, it highlights the link with the high infant mortality that characterizes these communities in the Atacama Desert.
“The archeology of mourning and art therapy is a new way of thinking and debating the artistic expressions that we find in the Chinchorro culture (…) it is very relevant to try to deepen the emotional aspects of ancient populations and create models that allow us to rethink the Chinchorro problem to address these social and emotional dimensions, more difficult to study in the archaeological record. So, in this way, by proposing and debating new ideas, we can also have different perspectives and think and rethink the origin of these complex mortuary practices developed by the ancient populations who inhabited northern Chile,” explains the researcher.
The publication was supported by the University of Tarapacá, the National Research and Development Agency (ANID) and Dumbarton Oaks, a research center linked to Harvard University. The Chinchorro Management Center carries out conservation and research initiatives on this culture, whose mummification system was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2021.
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