The archaeological site of Chinchorro is a cemetery site located on a beach in Arica, in northern Chile. Discovered by Max Uhle in the early 20th century, the site contained a collection of mummies, among the earliest in the world, and among the most stylistic of mummification techniques. The site is also the type site of the Chinchorro Culture, dated between about 5000 to 500 BC. The Chinchorro people were fisher-hunter-gatherers (Chinchorro means 'small boat') who lived along the coast of the Atacama Desert of northern-most Chile from the Lluta valley to the Loa river. The earliest sites (mostly middens) of the Chinchorro probably date to 7,000 BC in Acha, and the first evidence of mummification dates to approximately 5,000 BC, in the Quebrada de Camarones region, making the Chinchorro mummies the oldest in the world.
- La Cultura Chinchorro, by Bernardo Arriaza. Spanish
- Chinchorro for more links and information
- Archaeology of Chile
- Mortuary Studies
- Chinchorro Mummies, Archaeology Online
- Villa del Mar, a report from Karen Wise
- Travel Tips for Arica, Chile, from Bonnie Hamre, South America for Visitors
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