Web edition: August 27, 2012 Though ancient Egyptians are famous
for their mummies, Americans — South Americans — practiced the
preservation method first. In a desert coastal region of what is
now northern Chile and southern Peru, the Chinchorro people
began mummifying their dead about 7,000 years ago. Now
scientists have proposed an explanation for how this practice
got its start: The Chinchorro were just copying nature. B.
Bower. Good times led to grisly custom. Science News Online,
August 13, 2012. [Go to]