Archaeologists from Boston University have learned that the Chincha people, ancient inhabitants of Peru, painted their ancestral remains different colors to emphasize their origin. work of scientists published in the Journal of Anthropological Archeology.
This was part of the ritual – in this way the dead were released and given the opportunity to go to another world. During the study, the researchers analyzed 38 bones, 25 of which were skulls. They were all located in a cemetery in the Chincha Valley in southern Peru before they were discovered and dated between 1000 and 1825.
Scientists have discovered that ancient people used different types of red paint, and only the remains of certain people were painted after death. Thus, 24 samples had a combination of hematite dye, 13 – cinnabar and one – two dyes.
Further chemical analysis showed that the cinnabar was brought from hundreds of kilometers away and that the hematite probably came from local sources. According to the study’s authors, the “imported” paint may have been used to mark elite members of society.
Earlier archaeologists discovered The bodies of two men in lead sarcophagi in Notre Dame Cathedral.