Chile is renowned for its inspiring and romantic landscapes that vary so dramatically from Patagonia to the Atacama Desert. It is this beautiful wilderness of lakes, volcanoes, forests and deserts that lures most people who travel to Chile on holiday. But off the well travelled tour routes of Torres del Paine and San Pedro de Atacama, Chile is full of scarcely visited natural wonders and fascinating archaeological sites. A good example is that of the Chinchorro mummies of the Atacama, the oldest mummies in the world, predating their Egyptian counter parts by 2000 years!

The Chinchorro were a coastal dwelling people of northern Chile and southern Peru, who started mummifying their dead at least 7000 years ago. The mummification methods used by the Chinchorro changed over the millennia, becoming less complicated with time. The oldest mummies found, dating from 5000BC to 3000BC, were made with a method referred to as the black method.

The black method involved dismembering the deceased - the head, arms and legs were severed from the torso, then the skin was removed. The body was then dried, before the flesh and tissue were stripped from the bone, including the removal of the brain. The body would then be reassembled