The Chinchorros were preceramic fisher folk with a simple tool technology, but Arriaza (1995) and Arriaza and Standen (2002) have pointed out that the process of intentionally preparing their dead was one of their most remarkable achievements. The Chinchorros transformed their dead into highly artistic mortuary icons, epitomized by the so-called black and red mummies. It seems their mummification practice started in the Camarones Valley about 5050 BC and spread north and south from there. The ancient tradition is one of the oldest in the world, and it lasted for several millennia, declining about 1700 BC.
It was a coastal cultural phenomenon from Ilo in Peru to perhaps Antofagasta in northern Chile. However, the cultural core of this practice was Arica-Camarones. The Chin-chorros manipulated their dead in various ways, and styles change through time. The most common classification system used today to describe these mummies is the one proposed by Arriaza (1995) who divided them into black, red, bandaged, and mud-coated mummies (Figures 3.4, 3.5). The black, red, and bandaged mummies are subtypes of the complex preparation as described by Uhle (1919). Recently, Llagostera (2003) added another variation: corded mummies or mummies wrapped in reed cords as seen in the Camarones 15 and Patillos sites. The styles of mummification changed with time and region from black to red and from red to corded techniques.
The oldest intentionally prepared mummies were children from Camarones. Unfortunately, their mummies are very fragmented (Schiappacasse and Niemeyer 1984). Nevertheless, the black mummies are the oldest and most elaborate starting at Camarones 14, around 5000 BC, and declining around 2800 BC (Maderas Enco site). Sites containing black mummies include Camarones 17 and various Arica sites (Chinchorro, Maderas Enco and Playa Miller). They are commonly buried in groups of 4 to 6 individuals (Arriaza 1995; Aufderheide, Munoz, and Arriaza 1993; Standen 1997) (Figures 3.4, 3.5).
World History
