1,000-Year-Old South American Mummies Were Victims of Fatal Interpersonal Violence, New Study Suggests

Using CT scans to peer inside three mummies from South America, researchers recently discovered evidence that suggested two of the individuals were murdered.

According to a Gizmodo report, mummies are dated between 900 CE and 1300 CE and are from Chile and Peru. Two of them are males, and one is female.

Even though the female appears to have died from natural causes, CT scans of the male mummies revealed that they were possibly fatally "bludgeoned and stabbed."

According to the study's co-author Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist from the Academic Munich-Bogenhausen in Germany, violent trauma rates in South American populations appears to have been even higher compared to previous studies on skulls or mere skeletons specified.

3 South American Mummies

In the study, the investigators wrote that whole-body investigations, particularly on well-preserved mummified human remnants, are unusual.

The team investigated three South American mummies predating the Colonial Spanish era in this new research.

One of the male mummies, the Marburg man, was buried in the usual burial bundle. The analysis of ceramics, textiles, and fishing tools linked to his naturally mummified body suggest that he most possibly came from the Arica region in Northern Chile and poss likely part of a fishing community.

Meanwhile, the Delémont" natural mummies were that of a male and adult female, respectively. The mummies, the grave objects, and the textiles were investigated.

Marburg Mummy, Victim of Fatal Interpersonal Violence

The mummies were taken to Europe sometime in the middle of or late-19th century, explained Nerlich. Until now, they had not been examined with comprehensive modern imaging.

In the recent study, the researchers CT-scanned the bodies of the mummies to examine their ages, preservation conditions, and possible causes of death.

In their study published in Frontiers, the research team discovered that one mummy, currently at the University of Marburg in Germany, was male, opposing the original belief that the body was female.

Nonetheless, the more compelling detail is that the researchers wrote in their paper that there is no doubt that the individual of the Marburg mummy was victimized by severe and fatal interpersonal violence.

The study investigators documented a heavy blow to the face of the victim's face and evidence of a stab wound that lacerated an aorta and stabbed a lung.

5- to 35-Percent Trauma Rate Specified

The researchers think the eventual cause of death was the loss of blood from the stab wound. They believe the other male mummy experienced recurrent trauma based on several skull fractures that had been cured in life.

Dislocated parts of the cervical spine specified a massive blow to the back of the head, which may have appeared to be the deadly injury.

In a similar BB Tech report, Nerlich said previous research on skulls from Northern Chile and Peru specified a trauma rate of between five percent and 35 percent, a broad range, although one that the pathologist thinks could be higher on the damage to the recently scanned individuals.

They hope that "similar investigations of further mummies from museums or collections may provide additional information about trauma rates and types.

Related information about mummies is shown on National Geographic's YouTube video below:

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