Some of the world's oldest mummies are turning to black ooze and climate change may be the cause
A complete Chinchorro mummy. Courtesy of Vivien Standen/Harvard
Digital Reporter
Thursday, March 12, 2015, 9:49 AM - Some of the world's oldest mummies are turning to ooze and climate change is the likely cause, according to researchers from Harvard University.
The world's oldest man-made mummies date back to 5050 BC and can be found in modern-day Chile, artifacts from a hunter-gatherer community called the Chinchorro.
They have remained well preserved for centuries -- until recently.
About 120 of them are housed in a collection of the University of Tarapacá’s archaeological museum in Arica, Chile -- and over the past ten years, they've been degrading at a rapid pace. In some instances, they're turning into black ooze.
“In the last ten years, the process has accelerated,” said Marcela Sepulveda, professor of archaeology in the anthropology department and Archeometric Analysis and Research Laboratories at the University of Tarapacá in a statement.
“It is very important to get more information about what’s causing this and to get the university and national government to do what’s necessary to preserve the Chinchorro mummies for the future.”
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Researchers from Europe and North America were called in to determine the cause of the deterioration and determined it was a microbial issue, exacerbated by changes in the environment.
“The key word that we use a lot in microbiology is opportunism,” said Ralph Mitchell, Professor of Applied Biology at Harvard University in a statement.
“With many diseases we encounter, the microbe is in our body to begin with, but when the environment changes it becomes an opportunist.”
Moisture from increased humidity in the air appears to be the trigger for the degradation. Museum staff will be able to adjust room temperatures to help preserve the mummies -- but that won't help the hundreds of mummies buried in the valleys of northern Chile. These artifacts have yet to be excavated and are often uncovered during construction projects.
“How do you preserve them outside the museum? Is there a scientific answer to protect these important historic objects from the devastating effects of climate change?” Mitchell says.
Scientists are collaborating with Chilean officials to determine if there is a way to preserve the unrecovered mummies.
Source: Harvard
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