CT Scans Reveal Gnarly, 1,000-Year-Old Mummies Were Murdered
A 3D CT scan of the skull of one of the South American mummies in the new study.
Around 1,000 years ago, two men in South America were likely murdered in cold blood — one getting stabbed in the back and the other experiencing severe neck trauma, according to a new analysis of their mummified remains.
Behaving more like detectives than academics, a research team scanned three mummified bodies from Chile and Peru in South America to look for clues on how the individuals died. One male victim was hit on the head and stabbed in the back, while another male was likely killed after receiving “massive trauma” to the neck, which included dislocation, the researchers revealed.
The study adds to evidence of violence in prehistoric human societies and highlights how mummified remains can hold secrets that are lost when only bones are preserved. Both the stabbing and the cervical rotational trauma of the dislocated neck would have escaped detection in skeletons, the authors wrote in the study.
“The types of trauma we found would not have been detectable if these human remains had been mere skeletons,” study co-author Andreas Nerlich, a professor in the department of pathology at Munich Clinic Bogenhausen in Germany, said in a statement(opens in new tab).
Human bodies can be naturally mummified in dry, cold or other extreme environments, as these environments interfere with the process of decay that normally destroys soft tissues and organs. In this case, researchers studied mummies that were preserved in the very dry environments of South America and were held by museums in Germany and Switzerland.
Radiocarbon dating revealed that the mummies were between 740 and 1,120 years old, meaning they predated the colonial Spanish period.
One male mummy likely came from the Arica culture in what is now northern Chile. He was buried alongside fishing tools, so the researchers determined he likely came from a fishing community.
The two other mummies, a male and female, likely came from the Arequipa region in what is now southwestern Peru and were buried wearing materials made out of cotton and hair from llamas or alpacas, as well as viscachas, which are rodents in the chinchilla family.
The researchers used computed tomography (CT) scans to create virtual 3D reconstructions of the bodies, which revealed previously hidden details about their deaths. While the female died of natural causes, both of the male mummies died from extreme intentional violence, according to the research.
Other mummified remains may also have histories waiting to be revealed through modern scanning and reconstruction techniques. “There are dozens of South American mummies which might profit from a similar investigation as done here,” Nerlich said.
The study was published online on Sept. 9 in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.
South American Mummies Were Brutally Murdered, CT Scans Reveal
One of the mummified skulls was analyzed in the study.
One secret of the past that can be revealed through the study of skulls and skeletons is how frequent violence was amongst our ancestors. However, with their preserved soft tissues, mummified remains can be an even more telling indicator than bones alone.
That brings us to a new analysis of three pre-Columbian South American mummies, carried out with 3D computed tomography (3D CT) scans that use X-rays to view the internal state of the remains without having to open them up.
The research reveals that two out of these three people were brutally killed.
The Marburg male mummy. (A-M Begerock, R Loynes, OK Peschel, J Verano, R Bianucci, I Martinez Armijo, M González, AG Nerlich)
These are naturally mummified bodies, created in dry environments when fluid is soaked up by the surroundings of a body faster than the rate of decay. These conditions are common in the southern part of South America.
“Here we show lethal trauma in two out of three South American mummies that we investigated with 3D CT,” says pathologist Andreas Nerlich, from the Munich Clinic Bogenhausen in Germany.
“The types of trauma we found would not have been detectable if these human remains had been mere skeletons.”
The male mummy from the Philipps University Marburg, Germany originally belonged to the Arica culture in what is today northern Chile.
He most likely lived in a fishing community and showed signs of severe tuberculosis on his lungs. Aged between 20 and 25 years, radiocarbon dating suggests that this man died between 996 and 1147 CE.
As for the male and female mummies from the Art and History Museum of Delémont in Switzerland, they probably came from the region of Arequipa in what is today southwestern Peru. The man is thought to have died between 902 and 994 CE, and the woman between 1224 and 1282 CE.
Signs of “interpersonal violence” were identified by the researchers in the two male mummies, violence that would have killed them on the spot.
It would seem that the Marburg mummy died from a heavy blow to the head and a stab to the back, which may have come from one or two attackers.
As for the male Delémont mummy, the study notes “massive trauma against the cervical spine which represents most likely the cause of death” – so a hard blow to the back of the neck most likely caused him to meet his end.
Though the female Delémont mummy also had damage to the skeleton, it’s thought this came after death, probably during the burial.
“The availability of modern CT scans with the opportunity for 3D reconstructions offers unique insight into bodies that would otherwise not have been detected,” says Nerlich.
“Previous studies would have either destroyed the mummy, while x-rays or older CT scans without three-dimensional reconstruction functions could not have detected the diagnostic key features we found here.”
The Delémont mummies. (A-M Begerock, R Loynes, OK Peschel, J Verano, R Bianucci, I Martinez Armijo, M González, AG Nerlich)
As chilling as the findings of the study might be, learning about these deaths and these types of violence is incredibly useful in getting a better picture of how these ancient civilizations lived and got along – or didn’t get along.
While mummified remains are nowhere near as common as skeletons, there are still plenty that have been recovered and preserved in museums, and which can be given the same kind of scientific detective treatment.
“Importantly, the study of human mummified material can reveal a much higher rate of trauma, especially intentional trauma, than the study of skeletons.”
“There are dozens of South American mummies which might profit from a similar investigation as we did here,” says Nerlich.
The research has been published in Frontiers in Medicine.
The scientific community is perplexed by the discovery of a mummified Alien body in the Atacama desert
The mummified alien body from the Atacama Desert is at the top of the list when it comes to findings that the science world shudders at the thought of.
When it was found in 2003, no scientist could come up with a proper explanation other than the fact that it was unquestionably out of this universe.
Professor Harry Nolan also thought this was evidence that a mutant had been unleashed into the wild after a series of unsuccessful trials.
Ramon Navia, an employee of the prestigious Institute for Exobiological Research, has claimed on record that this is evidence of a very small mummy that was cast off, but unfortunately, that hypothesis does not hold water either, as careful examination reveals that this isn’t your ordinary bipedal specimen that has been mummified.
Brian Fester, an amazing scholar, investigated and examined the skull inside, ultimately concluding that the remains of the body were either human or, more likely, alien fossils.
According to him, the beast must have had grey skin because it was unaffected by the atmosphere, and the elongated skull could indicate that it came from South America because their ancestors were known to have the head shape.
Some may also speculate that this is an infant who was mummified several years ago, but no one has a definitive response.
A team of archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the tomb of a religious leader from ancient Peru at the Pacopampa site, a priestly figure, who was baptized as the “priest of the pututos,” or the priest of the shell trumpets.
The Pacopampa priest’s tomb remains have been dated to around 1000 BC. He was buried with musical instruments and an assortment of exotic objects.
Pacopampa is located in the province of Chota in the larger Cajamarca region. The tomb was located in the “La Capilla” building, and the man in the Pacopampa priest’s tomb was between 25 and 35 years of age, as reported by Agency Andina. Two other tombs have also been previously found at the site: the Lady of Pacopampa, who died in 750 BC (discovered in 2009), and the Serpent Jaguar Priest, from 700 BC (uncovered in 2015).
The National University of San Marcos and the Ethnographic Museum of Japan team, pictured here, that discovered the Pacopampa priest’s tomb has been working at the site since 2005.
The Pacopampa Priest’s Tomb: Uncovering a Tomb Full of Riches
The Peruvian National University of San Marcos and the Ethnographic Museum of Japan have been working on the Pacopampa site continuously since 2005.
Together, this team has undertaken numerous research projects within the framework of the International Cooperation Agreement on Research and Development, signed between both countries in 1988.
The Pacopampa priest’s tomb had been sealed with a huge rock that weighed more than half a ton (1,100 pounds). Inside, the team found offerings, votive deposits, trousseaus of exotic objects, seashell necklaces, malachite beads, and semi-precious stone earmuffs. And they also found pututos or shell trumpets.
Pututos were used as instruments in rituals and ceremonies. Ancient pututos were made from seashells imported from northern seaside settlements, including Tumbes and Guayaquil.
In a report, the archaeologists have argued that the Pacopampa shell trumpets are older than the ones found in Kuntur Wasi in Cajamarca, and Chavin de Huantar in Ancash.
“The burial is also associated with the Strombus snail that you don’t find in the Peruvian sea but in the Ecuadorian one. They were brought from a faraway place, it could mean this person had a quite important religious power back then,” said Yuji Seki, one of the directors of the Pacopampa Archaeological Project, to Reuters. The team has also shared the Pacopampa priest’s tomb finds on their Twitter account.
The original state of the Pacopampa priest’s tomb when it was first opened and before it was “cleaned up.”
The Pacopampa Archaeological Complex and a New Museum
The Pacopampa Archaeological Complex was a large ceremonial centre made with carved and polished stone. There are 12 archaeological sites within the complex, including La Capilla and El Mirador. In 2009, the tomb of a 30–40-year-old woman, “La Dama de Pacopampa” (The Dame of Pacopampa), was discovered at the site, she was believed to be a woman of power in the local community.
In 2012, five more tombs were discovered that were dated to roughly 2,900 years ago.
The first occupation at the Pacopampa Archaeological Complex dates to the beginning of the Middle Formative Period (1200 BC onwards). Historical records indicate a constant stream of construction right up until 500 BC. The temperate climate and fertile soils, along with ready access to the Chotano River provided this flourishing civilization with an abundance of corn, beans, squash, and yacon.
Roxana Judith Padilla Malca, director of the Decentralized Directorate of Culture of Cajamarca, is the head of the complex. She has highlighted the work of the Japanese and Peruvian researchers. The archaeological complex is widely believed to be the most extensive and important one in the Sierra Norte region of Peru.
Further digging has been approved by the Ministry of Culture for the 2022 season, under the supervision of archaeologist Francisco Esquerre, representatives of the Cajamarca Decentralized Directorate of Culture announced.
There are plans now to construct a site museum, which the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism has promised to finance. The facility will showcase the work of this international research team and give the public a chance to see the treasures of ancient northern Peru.
Ancient Hidden City Discovered Under Lake Titicaca
Five minutes away from the town of Tiquina, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, archaeologists found the remains of an ancient civilization under the waters of the lake.
The find was made 10 years ago, by Christophe Delaere, an archaeologist from the Free University of Belgium, by following information provided by the locals. 24 submerged archaeological sites have been identified under the lake, according to the BBC.
The most significant of these sites is Santiago de Ojjelaya, and the Bolivian government has recently agreed to build a museum there to preserve both the underwater structures and those which are on land.
Lake Titicaca.
The project is supposed to be finished in 2020 and will cost an estimated $10 million. The Bolivian government is funding the project with help from UNESCO and is backed by the Belgian development cooperation agency.
The proposed building will have two parts and cover an area of about 2.3 acres (9,360 square meters). One part of the museum will be on the shore, and it will display artefacts that have been raised from the lake bottom. The second part will be partially submerged, with enormous glass walls that will look out under the lake, allowing visitors to see the “hidden city” below.
Old pottery from Tiwanaku at the Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin-Dahlem.
According to the Bolivia Travel Channel, the museum will facilitate the beginning of an archaeological tourism enterprise, which “will be a resort and archaeology research centre, geology and biology, characteristics that typified it unique in the world [sic],” according to Wilma Alanoca Mamani, holder of the portfolio of the Plurinational State.
Christophe Delaere said that the building’s design incorporates elements of architecture used by the Andean cultures who inhabited the area.
Jose Luis Paz, who is the director of heritage for Bolivia’s Ministry of Culture, says that two types of underwater ruins will be visible when the building is complete: religious/spiritual offering sites, primarily underwater, and places where people lived and worked, which were primarily on the shoreline. He went on to say that the spiritual sites were likely flooded much later than the settlements.
Chullpas from Tiwanaku epoch.
A team of archaeological divers and Bolivian and Belgian experts have located thousands of items in the underwater sites. Some of these pieces will be brought up, but the majority will remain underwater as they are quite well-preserved.
Wilma Mamani said that more than 10,000 items have been found including gold and ceramic pieces and various kinds of bowls and other vessels.
The items are of pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilizations. Some of the artefacts have been estimated to be 2,000 years old, and others have been dated back to when the Tiwanaku empire was one of the primary Andean civilizations.
Gateway of the Sun, Tiwanaku, drawn by Ephraim Squier in 1877.
Tiwanaku was a major civilization in Bolivia, with the main city built around 13,000 feet above sea level, near Lake Titicaca, which made it one of the highest urban centres ever built.
The city reached its zenith between 500 AD and 1000 AD, and, at its height, was home to about 10,000 people. It’s unclear exactly when the civilization took hold, but it is known that people started settling around Lake Titicaca about 2,000 BC.
The Gateway of the Sun from the Tiwanaku civilization in Bolivia.
According to Live Science, the city’s ancient name is unknown, since they never developed a written language, but archaeological evidence suggests that Tiwanaku cultural influence reached across the southern Andes, into Argentina, Peru, and Chile, as well as Bolivia.
Tiwanaku began to decline around 1,000 AD, and the city was eventually abandoned. Even when it fell out of use, it stayed an important place in the mythology of the Andean people, who viewed it as a religious site.
Besides the obvious benefits of being able to study and share the artefacts of ancient civilizations, the project has another benefit as well. Most of the people who currently live in the area make they’re living in agriculture or fishing.
This project brings the possibility of new jobs for local residents, which can keep people from leaving the area due to a lack of opportunities, helping revitalize local communities.
Are the ‘Chachapoya Clouds Warriors’ of ancient Peru descendants of Europeans?
At 4,000 km upriver you reach the foothills of the Andes in Peru, and there lived the people of the Chachapoya, also called “The Warriors of the Clouds.”
The painted Clouds Warriors’ sarcophagi of Carajia. Mummies of famed warriors were entombed inside of the sarcophagi and placed on cliffs, with the skulls of their enemies placed on top.
There is little first-hand or contrasting knowledge of the Chachapoyas. Much of what we do know about the Chachapoyas culture is based on archaeological evidence from ruins, pottery, tombs, and other artefacts.
One of the most populous Chachapoya cities is 3,000 metres high and shows that its inhabitants were great builders and probably ruled a vast empire.
Radiocarbon (Carbon-14) analyses date most of the construction to around 800 AD, except for the main entrance dating back to 500 AD.
Kuelap is an archaeological site in northern Peru about two hours from Chachapoyas. At about 3,000 meters high, it is where the higher class of the Chachapoya civilization resided starting over a thousand years ago.
In all of America, there are no similar constructions, but there are similar ones among the Celtic peoples of Europe, especially in ancient Celtic settlements in Galicia. Some Chachapoya skulls show evidence that trepanations have been performed on them, which patients have survived. This surgical practice was already known in the Mediterranean where it is described around 500 BC, and trepanned Celtic skulls have been found in Austrian sites.
The kingdom of the Chachapoya was in eastern Peru, far from the area of influence of the Inca Empire. Although their burials used to take place inside homes, a custom shared with the Celts, they also made burials on the cliffs of steep cliffs, and they have left paintings of people with complex and spectacular headdresses. The Celts also represented their gods with similar headdresses.
Celtic warriors on the chariot (illustration).
The climate of the area brings very frequent storms that cause landslides capable of burying the cities that were in the valleys, for that reason the Chachapoyas chose to build on the tops of the mountains.
During torrential rains, a burial at 2,800 m was discovered and archaeologists were able to recover more than 200 mummies that had survived the storms and looting.
Analysis of the bones has revealed that many Chachapoyas suffered from diseases such as tuberculosis, which had always been thought to have been introduced into America by the Spanish after the Discovery, but this shows that the Chachapoyas already suffered from it many centuries before. This led me to think that the Chachapoyas were descendants of a European people that arrived in America many centuries before Columbus.
And it was a warrior people, many skeletons show that they died from skull fractures and violent deaths. And their most common weapons to attack from a distance were slings, very different from those found in the Inca part of Peru but very similar to the Celtic slings of the Balearic Islands.
Drawing of a Balearic slinger. He wears a spare sling as a headband and a bag of missiles.
A Balearic slinger, world champion in sling shooting, examines a Chachapoya sling and claims that they are practically identical to the traditional Balearic slingshots.
The Chachapoyas traits
Some descendants of the Chachapoyas retain physical features that differentiate them from other Amazonian or Inca tribes. They have lighter skin and many are blond or red-haired, contrasting with the copper complexion and black hair of the rest of the South American tribes. Some of the first Spanish explorers already witnessed those differences that made the Chachapoyas more similar to Europeans than to South Americans.
Saliva samples from children with these physical characteristics have been analyzed at the Molecular Genetic Institute in Rotterdam. Although most of their genome is genuinely native South American, some incorporate between 10 and 50 per cent genes of Celtic origin, specifically from England and Galicia.
Are the Chachapoyas descendants of Celtic tribes embarked on Carthaginian ships that crossed the Atlantic when fleeing the Roman army?
Despite several indications that point to this possibility, the truth is that there is no conclusive evidence. Perhaps new archaeological or genetic studies will confirm this, but some archaeologists and scholars of the Chachapoyas are already convinced of it.
Remains of a woman from 800 years ago were found in a Wooden canoe
An illustration of a deceased young woman lying in a wampos (ceremonial canoe) with a pottery jug near her head.
Up to 1,000 years ago, mourners buried a young woman in a ceremonial canoe to represent her final journey into the land of the dead in what is now Patagonia, a new study finds. The discovery reaffirms ethnographic and historical accounts that canoe burials were practised throughout pre-Hispanic South America and refutes the idea that they may have been used only after the Spanish colonization, according to the authors of the study.
“We hope this investigation and its results will resolve this controversy,” said archaeologist Alberto Pérez, an associate professor of anthropology at the Temuco Catholic University in Chile and the lead author of the study, published Wednesday (Aug. 24) in the journal PLOS One.
Canoe burials are well attested and are still practised in some areas of South America, Pérez told Live Science. But because wood rots rapidly, the new finding is the first known evidence of the practice from the pre-Hispanic period. “The previous evidence was important and was based on ethnographic data, but the evidence was indirect,” he said.
The archaeological site in northwest Argentina was excavated between 2012 and 2015 before a well was built at the location, which is on private land.
The burial described in the study, at the Newen Antug archaeological site near Lake Lacár in western Argentina, indicates that mourners buried the woman on her back in a wooden structure crafted from a single tree trunk that had been hollowed out by the fire.
The same burning technique has been used for thousands of years to make “dugout” canoes known as “wampos” in the local Mapuche culture, and evidence suggests that Indigenous people prepared the woman’s remains so that she could embark on a final canoe journey across mystical waters to her final abode in the “destination of souls,” Pérez said.
Pre-Hispanic burial
The woman’s grave is the earliest of three known pre-Hispanic burials at the Newen Antug site, which archaeologists excavated between 2012 and 2015, before a well was built at the location, which is on private land. The location is at the northern extreme of the region known as Patagonia, which consists of the temperate steppes, alpine regions, coasts and deserts of the southern part of South America.
Radiocarbon dating indicates the woman was buried more than 850 years ago and possibly up to 1,000 years ago, while her sex and age at death — between 17 and 25 years old — were estimated from her pelvic bones and the wear on her teeth, according to the study. (Evidence suggests the Mapuche have lived in the region since at least 600 B.C.)
A pottery jug decorated with white glaze and red geometric patterns, placed in the grave by her head, suggests a connection with the “red on white bichrome” tradition of pre-Hispanic ceramics on both sides of the Andes mountains, the researchers found. This is the earliest known example of this type of pottery being used as a grave gift, according to the study.
Canoes known as wampos in the Mapuche language were constructed by hollowing out a single tree trunk with fire, with thicker walls at the bow and stern.
Given its age and the humid climate, the burial canoe has rotted away, and only fragments of wood remain. But tests suggest that the fragments came from the same tree — a Chilean cedar (Austrocedrus chilensis) — and that it had been hollowed out with fire.
Shells found in the grave show that her body was placed directly on a bed of Diplodon chilensis, a type of freshwater clam that was likely brought from the shores of Lake Lacár more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) away, the researchers wrote.
The young woman was buried more than 800 years ago in a wampo, or ceremonial canoe, that researchers think symbolized a boat journey to the land of the dead.
In addition, the position of the body — with the arms gathered above the torso, and the head and feet raised — indicates that the woman was buried inside a concave structure with thicker walls at the ends, which correspond to the bow and stern of a canoe, Pérez said.
Taken together, these aspects suggest the woman was interred in a traditional canoe burial representing the Mapuche belief that a soul must make a final boat journey before it arrives in the land of the dead. “The material evidence all goes in the same direction, and there is a whole battery of ethnographic and historical information that accounts for it,” Pérez told Live Science in an email.
Destination of souls
According to Mapuche belief, the destination of the deads’ souls was “Nomelafken” — a word in the Mapuche language that translates to the “other side of the sea” — and the newly dead would make a metaphorical boat journey for up to four years before they arrived at a mythical island called Külchemapu or Külchemaiwe, Pérez and his colleagues wrote in the study.
A historical report from the 1840s by the Chilean politician Salvador Sanfuentes remarked that local people “site the graves of their dead on the bank of a stream to allow the current to carry the soul to the land of souls” and that ceremonial canoes were buried as coffins to carry the dead on this journey, the researchers wrote.
The metaphor of the recently deceased making such a canoe journey to a final destination seems to have been prevalent throughout South America in pre-Hispanic times, and possibly for thousands of years, Pérez noted.
“We infer that this was a widespread practice on the continent, although it is little known to archaeology due to conservation problems,” such as the degradation of wood in humid climates, he said. “The antiquity of these practices is uncertain, but we know such navigation technologies were used there more than 3,500 years ago, so we can estimate that date as a potential time limit.”
The new study has great scientific importance for archaeological and anthropological research in the Patagonia region, said Nicolás Lira, an assistant professor of archaeology, ethnography and prehistory at the University of Chile who wasn’t involved in the research.
“The findings … are of exceptional preservation for the humid environment of the region, where rivers and lakes shape the landscape in an interconnected [river] system that facilitated and encouraged navigation,” Lira told Live Science in an email.
Juan Skewes, an anthropologist at Alberto Hurtado University in Chile who wasn’t involved in the study, said the Newen Antug burial was “strong evidence” of a shared cultural tradition between the east and west “slopes” of the Andes.
Meanwhile, historical and ethnographic records suggest such canoe burials represented a symbolic relationship between the Mapuche people and bodies of water, but that relationship wasn’t their only consideration, Skewes said. For example, “trees are part of almost every aspect of the Mapuche’s daily life, Skewes said. “Aside from having associations with mortuary practices, they are linked to childbirth and to the memories of the dead.” That might mean that the construction of a burial wampo from a single tree could have had extra meaning, in addition to the canoe’s symbolic function during the final voyage of the dead, he said.
Burials Discovered in Peru’s Vichama Archaeological Complex
At Vichama Archaeological Complex work has resumed. As a result, funerary complexes and various objects have been found. Similarly, a structure was located that might have served as a home.
Alexander Zuñiga, an archaeologist who works on this project led by Dr. Ruth Shady, explained that some searches were carried out near the monumental area. They were lucky in some of them and discovered funerary contexts.
The specialist indicated that there was no pattern in the position in which the ancient inhabitants of Vichama used to be buried.
Likewise, he noted that some offerings were found with these bundles. The most striking ones were two toads.
Between the valley and the sea
The archaeologist stated that among the rescued pieces there were tools for working cotton and objects made with the remains of molluscs or other marine animals.
This fact is not accidental. Vichama is close to the sea. A considerable percentage of the population of what is now Vegueta lives from fishing activities.
It is also close to the Huaura Valley.
Snakes and toads
The archaeologist explained that, at the time that Vichama was occupied, some beliefs were changing. For example, in later times the buildings were arranged facing the valley and the walls were decorated with toad figures.
In earlier stages, these buildings faced north and had other types of decoration. In some high reliefs, figures of humans, snakes, and fish are seen.
These will also be seen by the public next weekend on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of this archaeological project.
Archaeologist Zuñiga pointed out that the oldest pieces found and dated in Vichama are 3,800 years old.
Nonetheless, there is evidence that there are older constructions. The constant, so far, are the sunken circular squares of the Caral Culture.
