---
title: "Chinchorro Mummification Begins"
year: 7000
country: "Chile"
canonical: "https://recap.at/7000/chinchorro-mummification"
slug: "chinchorro-mummification"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "7000-01-01"
---

# Chinchorro Mummification Begins

> The oldest known mummification practices in South America represent sophisticated mortuary rituals and ceremonial protocols, predating Egyptian practices by 2,000 years.

## Summary

The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture, found in what is now northern Chile. They are the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains, having been buried up to two thousand years before the Egyptian mummies. 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.

## Sources

- [Chinchorro Mummification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchorro_mummies) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/7000/chinchorro-mummification