Arriaza Speaks about Ancient Chinchorros Culture, Their Concept of Mummification

By Maydaa Abo El-Nadar

CAIRO, Jan. 19 (SEE) - Ancient Egyptian civilization shares some aspects with other great civilizations, such as the Greek, Roman, Inca, and Indian civilizations. On the other side, there are other ancient cultural groups that share similarities with these civilizations.

In this regard, SEE interviewed Prof. Bernardo Arriaza from the Chilean University of Tarapacá. Arriaza spoke about the cultural group called “Chinchorros”. Their mummies are older than 7000 years. They were discovered in 1917 and displayed at the San Miguel de Azapa Archaeological Museum, located in northern Chile.

Here are some excerpts from the interview with Arriaza.

What was the occasion of your visit to Egypt in December 2018?

I was invited by the Chilean Ambassador to Egypt Fernardo Zalaquett to give a speech at the Conference Bio-archaeology of the Mummies in Egypt and Chile that took place at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

The event was organized by the Embassy of Chile in Egypt with the collaboration of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Sciences of the Arab Countries and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

My visit to Egypt came under the umbrella of the existing collaboration between Egypt and Chile in the field of archeology and its studies.

These studies include scientific analyses that serve to know about the mummies’ statues, issues of their conservation, how we could resolve them, and how could they be displayed at museums.

Could you introduce the Chinchorros culture to our readers?

Atacama Desert in northern Chile is characterized by being dry. There, the rainfall’s rate is low. From the desert zone till the coast, the Chinchorro cultural group was formed between the years 7000 and 1500 B.C. They were fishermen and hunters.

What are the similarities and differences between methods of mummies’ conservation in ancient Egypt and the Chinchorros’ culture?

Around 7000 years ago, they started to convert deceased bodies to artwork and statues, using special materials such as: vegetable fibers, lumber, and pigments. Both ancient Egyptians and Chinchorros used natural substances and they removed organs in the embalming process.

I would like to add that the weather’s nature at Atacama Desert was conducive to mummification’s process.

Chinchorros also entrained the dead with their objects. However, as Chinchorros were a modest community, the objects were little and simple, such as necklaces.

Regarding the differences, ancient Egyptian put emphasis in sarcophagi, while Chinchorros paid more attention to the body. We can see that ancient Egyptian sarcophagi were highly elaborated.

To be specific, we are here comparing a small group (Chinchorros) with a large society (ancient Egyptians). Chinchorros were a pre-ceramic and a pre-agricultural community who cared about preparing the dead for the afterlife.

Is converting dead bodies to art work has to do with the death philosophy in Latin America where drama is not deeply involved?

At the Andean Coast, people react to death as one of the life cycle’s natural stages. People there believe that the dead ones live in a world parallel to ours, so they coexist with dead and there is continuity with death. The Inca (a Latin American ancient civilization centered in Peru) for example, used to bring out their mummified ancestors to accompany them in processions. In addition, not long ago, people used to bring out parts of their grandfathers’ bodies, to celebrate carnivals together.

So Chinchorros believed in the afterlife?

Studies show they did. There is even a touching fact in this regard, Chinchorros mummified fetuses.

Why did you choose this field of investigation?

As a physical anthropologist, I am interested in what has to do with the diseases’ evolution, relation between biological aspects, cultures, and the environment. Thanks to studying diseases, we could extrapolate the environment, as some diseases are caused by environmental factors.

A vivid example is that some diseases were not common during the pre-ceramic and pre-agricultural eras. These diseases started to spread after the development of planting some crops, such as: wheat, potatoes, and corn.

How do you see the multidisciplinary approach?

I believe in the multidisciplinary approach as seeing the same object from different views is very useful and contributes in solving significant issues.

What are your current projects?

Currently we are studying how some minerals, including arsenic, affected past populations, especially in desert zones.

What is your relation between Egyptian figures in the field of archaeology?

In this regard, I would like to refer that I met with famous Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass, long time ago, in Las Vegas, USA, on the occasion of inaugurating Luxor Las Vegas Hotel. There I had the pleasure to know him.