Plomo Mummy

The El Plomo mummy was excellently preserved due to high altitude and low humidity conditions.

His garb consisted of a black sleeveless tunic, a large grey shawl, a headdress decorated with condor feathers.

He was also wearing two pieces of silver jewelry, a heavy bracelet and an H-shaped pendant, both of which indicates a high or elite social status.

Finally, several balls made from animal intestines contained human hair, fingernail clippings, and teeth.

On February 16, 1954, one of the men that found the mummy informed Dr. Grete Mostny of the discovery, who was at that time the Head of Anthropology at the Chilean National Museum of Natural History.

The mummy was named "La Momia del Cerro el Plomo" after his discovery's location.

[12] His body was extremely well preserved and studies and examinations were made before it was displayed in a glass freezer at the Chilean National Museum of Natural History.

His face was painted with red and ochre stripes [11] Currently, a replica is displayed instead of the real mummy in order to preserve its remains better.

El Plomo mummy is currently still kept at the Chilean National Museum of Natural History, but in a chamber with controlled humidity and temperature.

Roentgenograms (X-ray images)[14] were performed in order to examine the mummy's skeleton, and a coprolite analysis was made.

It was decided that the skin would be left intact and a biopsy of the organs would not be made, in order to protect the inner layers against microorganisms that might damage the well-preserved mummy.