Chinchorro Mummification Begins

The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture, found in what is now northern Chile.^¹ They are the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains, having been buried up to two thousand years before the Egyptian mummies.^¹ The earliest mummy that has been found in Egypt dates from around 3000 BC, while the oldest purposefully artificially preserved Chinchorro mummies date from around 5050 BC.^¹