Puno Museum Reveals Arcane Warrior Mummies: Discover the Secrets That Have Been Hidden!
The Muisca mummies are the mummified remains of the ruling class of the Misco society, its main priests and their families. The mummies would be placed in caves or dedicated horses “Masolemonios” and were not buried.
The Muisca inhabited the Colombian regions before the arrival of the Spanish and were an advanced civilization. The Muisca did not build architecture, as did the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Ica. Their houses, temples and sanctuaries were built with wood and clay.
The Mυisca were called the “Salt People” because they extracted halite from various salt mines of the Altiplapo.
In 1602, the first Spanish settlers found 150 mummies in a cave that was arranged in a scenic circular shape. The chief’s mummy was in the center of the stage. Cloths and pots of food surrounded the mummies.
Since then many mummies and “masolemonios” of indigenous musical groups have been found. Recently a new discovery was made of the mummy of a baby in a cave near Gámeza, Boyacá, along with a small bowl, a pacifier and cotton cloths.
The mummies of the upper classes were decorated with gold earrings or poseris and with ravens with gold and emerald feathers.
The Muiscas believed that there was an afterlife, so mummies were buried surrounded by pots of food for their stay in the other world. The most important members of society were accompanied by their numerous wives, slaves and children.
The cultural practice of mummification was copied in the colonial period. The youngest mummies date from the second half of the 18th century.
In the places reserved for mummies, the bodies were placed on a platform of reeds, like a raised bed. Other mummies were placed on small wooden stools. The mummies remained there without being buried.
All the mummies found were in a similar sitting position with their arms and legs bent towards the torso. The fingers of the mummified people were tied with cotton strings.
The warriors were richly decorated with emeralds, ravens, fiber clothes and cotton bags. According to the Spanish, who made the first contact with the Musiccas, some of the warriors carried mummies on their backs. This practice was used to impress the enemy and receive good strength in battle.
When the first Spanish soldiers raided the Supra Temple of Sogamoso in 1537, they found mummies decorated with golden crows and other precious objects sitting on raised platforms.
Music Mυmmification
Mummification was a common practice in many South American cultures. The oldest evidence of mummification in the Americas is known from the Chipchorro culture in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and dates back 7,000 years.
Cotton bag that accompanies the Mυisca Mυmmy – Gold Museum, Ojos de Bogotá.
Several other pre-Columbian cultures in Colombia also performed mummification. The Mυisca began their mummification practices from the 5th century AD.
Franciscan priests described the use of substances to balm the body and remove the organs in 1550. The process took eight hours to dry the body with a powdery balm after the testicles were removed.
Another, safer method of preparing mummies was more frequently used. The body would be dried with fire and smoke and organs would be removed.
The heat of the fire not only dried the body, but the phepol released by the smoke would preserve the body and prevent it from decomposing.
The dried bodies were wrapped in several layers of cotton cloth, mostly painted. Emeralds were placed in the mouth and to cover the eyes and navel of the deceased. The ears and posture were also covered with cotton cloths.
During mummification rituals, musicians sing soups and chicha, a beer typically made from corn, for several days.
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