The Chinchorros, the oldest mummies in the world


6000 year old mummies of a mysterious nomadic hunter-gatherer people 

Near Arica, in the extreme north of Chile, the Colón Museum exhibits a collection of mummies, discovered during the work of the same museum built on the site of an old chinchorro cemetery.

They are presented in situ, under a glass floor. Particularly well preserved, some of them are accompanied by vegetable fiber shrouds and a series of funerary artifacts.

Others are preserved and exhibited not far from the Azapa Museum.


The oldest mummies in the world are chinchorros.

The Chinchorros are a nomadic people dating back to between 7000 and 1500 BC. Having lived on the Pacific coast in the north of Chile, along the Atacama Desert. They are still largely unknown to archaeologists and preserve many mysteries.

This site uses cookies.It's noted, thank you.