The Oldest Mummies in the World Are Rotting and Sprouting Mold

Climate change is bringing rain and humidity to usually dry and arid Northern Chile, causing ancient mummies to decompose as they are exposed to increased moisture and the elements. The phenomenon puts some of the world’s oldest known mummies at risk of deteriorating after thousands of years of artificial and natural preservation. The mummies were created by the people of the Chinchorro culture, a fishing community who lived in what is now Chile and Southern Peru from 5,000 BC to 500 BC. They carefully prepared their dead by removing skin and organs and filling out the bodies with animal skins or clay and reeds. Some even had their original skin put back onto reshaped bodies, as if they were reupholstered for the afterlife. - Gizmodo