CT Scans Reveal Horrifying Ordeal of Two Murdered Mummies in South America

Recent CT scans of three South American mummies by researchers revealed evidence that two were murdered mummies.

Warning: This article contains embedded posts of photos of the mummified bodies that may be disturbing for some readers.

Two of the mummies are male and one is female; they are from Peru and Chile and date to between 900 and 1300 CE. The male mummies' CT scans showed that they were probably fatally bludgeoned and stabbed, despite the fact that the female looks likely to have died of natural causes. The study from the group outlining their work has just been published in Frontiers.

The study's co-author, Andreas Nerlich, wrote in a letter that the rates of violent trauma in South American communities appear to have been even significantly greater than earlier research on skulls or just skeletal remains had suggested. German pathologist Nerlich works at the Academic Clinic in Munich-Bogenhausen.

According to Nerlich, the mummies have been brought to Europe sometime during the middle or late 19th century. They had not previously been studied with thorough contemporary imaging. The mummies' bodies were CT-scanned recently by the researchers to learn more about their ages, levels of preservation, and potential causes of death.

Gender and Cause of Death

In contrast to the initial assumption that the body was female, the team first discovered that one mummy, now housed in Germany at the University of Marburg, was male.

The paper's authors state that there is no question that the Marburg mummy's individual was a victim of severe and ultimately fatal interpersonal violence. This is the more intriguing detail.The team records a severe blow to the victim's face as well as evidence of a stab wound that punctured a lung and tore open an aorta. The medical team believes that loss of blood from the stab wound was the final cause of death.

They surmise that the other male mummy experienced recurrent trauma, as shown by the numerous skull fractures evidences that had healed during his lifetime. The fatal injury may have been caused by a powerful blow to the back of the skull, according to dislocated portions of the cervical spine.

Read also: 5 Ancient Mummies and A Glimpse into Their Lost World 

According to Nerlich, earlier research on skulls from Northern Chile and Peru suggested a trauma rate of between 5 percent and 35 percent. This is a wide range, but Nerlich believes it may be higher given the damage to the recently scanned mummies. Nerlich hopes that similar studies of additional mummies from museums or collections will reveal more details about the types and prevalence of trauma, Gizmodo reports.

World's Oldest Mummies

The Chinchorro mummies were found in the Atacama Desert in modern-day Chile in the early 20th century. The said mummies and related sites have recently been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. To house the remains and other archeological discoveries, a new museum is currently being built. Researchers and mummies from the Chinchorro tribe are preserved at the Azapa San Miguel Museum in Arica, Chile. A new museum for archeological exhibits is being built close by and will house more of the ancient remains than the current facility can display.

The Atacama Desert in Chile, along the Camarones River, is where the first ever Chinchorro mummies were discovered in the early 20th century, according to National Geographic data.

Related article: Unearthed Ancient Corpses in Portugal May Be World's Oldest Mummies at 8,000 Years Old