The 1,100-year-old mummified remains of a man have revealed that he likely died in an ancient turquoise mining accident in Chile. Extensive evidence of blunt force trauma found on the man’s skeleton suggests he died from a falling rock or mine collapse, according to a new study.
The naturally mummified remains, along with grave goods such as a bow and arrow and a hallucinogenic snuff kit, were originally unearthed in the 1970s in an area just outside a pre-Hispanic turquoise mine in El Salvador, a city in northern Chile in the middle of the Atacama Desert. An obvious fracture in the mummy’s lower left leg bone suggested that the man may have been involved in the accident, but a full analysis of the remains was not completed until 2023.
you may like
“Miners likely entered the mine and used stone hammers to extract the turquoise from the surrounding rock,” Morales and Garrido told Live Science via email. “If a rockfall occurred, there was no way to protect yourself.”
Researchers analyzed the mummy and found that the man was between 25 and 40 years old when he died. They carbon-dated the mummy to between 894 and 1016 AD, dating it to the beginning of the Late Middle Andean period in the central Andes, between the Wari Empire (and eventual fall) and the rise of the Inca Empire.
Multiple unhealed fractures were evident in the man’s upper spine. He also had fractured ribs, scapulae, and clavicle, suggesting a “widespread blunt impact” on his upper back, and that “the upper left thorax took the brunt of the impact,” Morales and Garrido wrote in their study. The impact dislocated some of his vertebrae and collapsed his ribcage.
Additionally, researchers identified fractures in the vertebrae near the base of the spine, likely as a result of the initial upper back injury. Both upper and lower spine injuries are “usually associated with severe spinal cord injury and high mortality rates,” the researchers wrote.
However, no damage was found to the man’s skull, neck or arms, indicating that the impact occurred while the man was in a head-down position. He may have been actively mining, or he may have tried to protect his head with his arms when he was struck by a heavy object falling from above. This type of damage is found in the bodies of people involved in earthquakes and industrial accidents in forestry, construction, and mining, the researchers wrote.
Researchers say turquoise has been mined in the Atacama Desert for 2,000 years. Miners used specialized equipment such as stone hammers, wooden and stone shovels, and baskets to extract semi-precious stones and take them back to mining camps, where the turquoise was processed into beads. Many of these beads were traded or exchanged along the pre-Hispanic Inca’s vast road network.
Most ancient turquoise mines were open and shallow, so miners did not wear protective equipment. But researchers say El Salvador’s mine is one of the few with underground pits.
“Given the archaeological context, this person likely died when a rock fell onto his back from the mine ceiling while mining turquoise,” the researchers wrote in the study, but added that “further research is needed to better understand the living conditions of ancient miners.”
Gold and Jewelry Quiz: What do you know about nature’s glittering treasures?
Source link
