The Mummy’s Curse Revisited: New Developments from Northern Chile

Figure 1: Reproduction of the mummies and their burial

In a previous blog post the topic of the mummy’s curse was addressed, and it was largely rejected.  New evidence, however, has turned this notion on its head.  The discovery of poisoned clothing on two mummies from northern Chile has breathed new life into the curse and provide evidence to support its authenticity.  This blog post will address the evidence that demonstrates proof that the mummy’s curse may be a real thing after all (at least in some cases).

In 1976 road construction near Iquique, Chile, uncovered a magnificent find: the mummified remains of two young women, ages 9 and 18-20, who had been sacrificed as part of the intricate Capacocha ritual (Figure 1).  The Capacocha ritual is an Inca specific custom that was held to memorialize important events related to the Inca emperor, such as his death; end abhorrent weather phenomenon; foster plentiful harvests; or meet the requirements of specific religious ceremonies.  The women were interred with 104 burial goods, including ceramics, Spondylus shell, chuspa bags, silver ornaments, metallic figurines, and many more.  In addition, they were clothed in red garments and the bodies and burial goods were covered in a red powder.  These women are believed to have traveled from Cusco, Peru, a trip that would have taken several months, to their final destination near Iquique for the purpose of sacrifice, which would have linked the local northern Chilean populations to the Inca empire (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Map of South America demonstrating distance between Cuzco to Iquique

 

Initially, the burial was widely studied, but the powder found in the burial and that dyed their clothing was not considered anything special.  The use of red powder, such as red ochre, is commonplace in mortuary rituals of the past among cultures around the globe.  The significance of the red powder among the Inca is one that signifies elite status, and given the importance of the Capacocha ritual it made sense that the women would be covered with it.  More recent study by Dr. Bernardo Arriaza and colleagues, however, provides new insights into the red powder.  While initially written off as a benign aspect of the tomb it is now realized that the red powder is actually cinnabar, which is what is used to collect mercury.  Furthermore, the nearest cinnabar mine is several thousand miles away, meaning it was transported a great distance to be used as a dye and to cover the burial. 

These are significant finds for the interpretation of the burial, but they also indicate another important consideration for archaeologists: they make the study of these women incredibly dangerous.  Inhalation of cinnabar can lead to poisoning and potentially death (dependent on the amount of cinnabar that is consumed and the health of the individual).  Arriaza and his team caution that the presence of red pigments in Inca or other pre-Columbian Andean burial should be met with extreme caution until the red pigment is identified.  In the event that the pigment is red cinnabar special care needs to be taken in studying the burial goods and human remains, as well as in their storage.  Ultimately, failure to do so will lead to the realization of the mythical mummy’s curse, which up until now was considered an overblown work of fiction. 

This new evidence suggests that what started out as a cautionary tale to ward off looters of ancient burial grounds may actually have some truth attached to it.  This does not mean that archaeologists need to be fearful of excavating, but they should be more cautious and aware when they do it.  This is not the first-time archaeologists have had to deal with potential hazards in the field, but this is a good reminder of the potential hazards that archaeologists may face when excavating.  Ultimately, we never know what we will find when we start excavating, and one should always remember safety first.

Works Cited

Arriaza, B., Ogalde, J. P., Campos, M., Paipa, C., Leyton, P., & Lara, N. (2018). Toxic Pigment in a Capococha Burial: Instrumental Identification of Cinnabar in Inca Human Remains from Iquique, Chile. Archaeometry, pp. 1-10.

The Roanoke Nightmare Solved?

Figure 1: Map of Roanoke Island

If you read the title of this post you are probably expecting the answer to the mystery of the missing Roanoke colonists.  Or perhaps you are just curious about the story behind the missing Roanoke colonists.  You will actually get both.  This post will explore the story of the Roanoke colonists, as well as the archaeological evidence that has been discovered thus far, followed by what archaeological and genetic studies are planned to help solve this mystery, which (spoiler alert!) remains unsolved.

The Roanoke mystery begins in 1587 when a group of English colonists arrived on the island, just off the coast of North Carolina (Figure 1).  Led by John White they were tasked with colonizing the New World, and they immediately took up that task.  The first colonist birth occurred in this group as Virginia Dare, White’s granddaughter, was born, followed by an unidentified child shortly thereafter.  Unfortunately for White and the rest of the Roanoke colonists they ran out of supplies, and White left for England to collect additional resources.  His departure to England was uneventful, but his return to the New World and his family was as the Spanish were at war with the English.  He finally departed three years later and arrived to Roanoke to find it empty.  The only clues of the whereabouts of the colonists were two trees: one with the word “Cro” carved in it and the other with the word “Croatoan” carved in it.  White and his crew searched for years for the lost colonists, but they and any physical remnants of the settlement had disappeared.  The legend of the Roanoke colony was born.

Archaeologists have been seeking out the answers to this mystery for a number of years.  In 1998 they thought they had made headway when an excavation at Hatteras Island turned up several European artifacts found among Native American artifacts.  These included remnants of a sword, English pottery, and a ring (Figure 2).  The lead archaeologist took the ring to a local jeweler for analysis, and he determined it was a gold ring.  The inscriptions were analyzed by another expert who determined that the signet was a lion and linked to the Kendall family, which was one of the original Roanoke families.  This led the archaeological team to conclude that the Roanoke colonists had abandoned their settlement and assimilated with the local Native American group, specifically the Croatoan Indians.  It was hypothesized that they left out of necessity, brought with them only their most cherished possessions, and passed them down through the generations, hence why the artifacts ended up on a different island.

Figure 2: The ring discovered at Hatteras Island believed to be linked to the Kendall family

 

Subsequent analysis of the artifacts, however, demonstrated that the lynch pin in this hypothesis, the ring, was not gold but brass.  It turned out that the lead archaeologist stretched the truth of his initial analyses as the jeweler was not authorized to do tests that would have confirmed the diagnosis of the ring being gold.  The jeweler claimed that he never said that the ring was definitively gold either.  The other expert who claimed that the signet belonged to the Kendall family also said that he never quite said that, and instead stated that the signet was definitely a lion, which was part of the Kendall family crest.  This information placed serious doubts on the original 1998 study.

All is not lost, however.  Renewed interest in the Roanoke colony has initiated new studies, both archaeological and genetic.  Advances in archaeological study, specifically ground penetrating radar (GPR), has uncovered a potential structure under the surface of the Hatteras Island soil, and excavations on the area is ongoing as a result.  Historical evidence suggests that the Hatteras Indians (aka the Croatoans) resembled white settlers based on later colonists’ observations, which also supports the assimilation hypothesis.  This is also supported by ethnohistoric evidence that documents Native Americans claiming the Roanoke colonists left the island and joined at least two Native American groups, died, or were enslaved.  Unfortunately, these historical accounts may not be directly linked to Roanoke or be completely accurate.  The Hatteras Indians were in contact with various European groups, and they could have procreated with any number of those groups, not exclusively the Roanoke colonists (if at all).  Furthermore, it is believed that the Native American accounts may have been exaggerated or falsified to impart fear in European colonists against the Native Americans they despised.  Either way genetic studies are being pursued, but due to poor records and the inability to accurately locate any family members from England who may be related to the Roanoke colonists the researchers have put out a specific call for volunteers to assist in the investigation.

As these new investigations continue and make headway there is hope for a resolution in the matter of what ultimately happened with the Roanoke colonists.  There is also the risk that nothing will be concluded as some scholars, specifically geologists, believe that natural erosive processes have already washed away the critical evidence.  The excavations and genetic studies are moving forward, though, and either way we will learn something more than what we previously knew on this matter.

References

Archaeologyincommunity. (2017, June 14). The Archaeology of Roanoke: The Lost Colony. Retrieved from Archaeology in Community: http://www.archaeologyincommunity.com/the-archaeology-of-roanoke-the-lost-colony/

Estes, R. (2018, June 28). The Lost Colony of Roanoke: Did They Survive? – National Geographic, Archaeology, Historical Records and DNA. Retrieved from DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy: https://dna-explained.com/2018/06/28/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke-did-they-survive-national-geographic-archaeology-historical-records-and-dna/

Lawler, A. (2015, August 7). We Finally Have Clues to How the Lost Roanoke Colony Vanished. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150807-lost-colony-roanoke-hatteras-outer-banks-archaeology/

Lawler, A. (2017, April 7). The Mystery of Roanoke Endures Yet Another Cruel Twist. Retrieved from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mystery-roanoke-endures-yet-another-cruel-twist-180962837/

Lawler, A. (2018, June 6). Archaeologists start a new hunt for the fabled Lost Colony of the New World. Retrieved from Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/archaeologists-start-new-hunt-fabled-lost-colony-new-world

O'Callaghan, J. (2018, June 11). Could The Mystery Of The Lost Colony Of Roanoke Finally Be Solved? Retrieved from IFLScience: http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/archaeologists-are-trying-to-solve-the-mystery-of-the-lost-colony-of-north-america/

The First Colony Foundation. (2018). Archaeology. Retrieved from The First Colony Foundation: https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/archaeology/

Eat Me! Exploring the Costs & Benefits of Eating Human Flesh

Cannibalism is a topic that continues to fascinate and intrigue people across the world.  Between Jeffrey Dahmer and the forsaken crew of the HMS Terror of the Franklin Expedition to the soccer players in the Andes and the doomed Donner Party expedition across the Sierra-Nevada Mountains there are several examples of cannibalistic events in recent human history.  Cannibalism is not a recent human phenomenon, however, as our hominid ancestors regularly participated in such actions for yet to be discovered reasons.  While cannibalism is largely taboo and banned across the globe it is still of central focus among many, taking center stage in horror films and television shows, scary stories, and even our language.  The most recent act of cannibalism where a man fed pieces of his amputated foot to his friends has in part reignited interest in this topic, as well as reopened a question commonly asked of cannibalism: can the act of eating human flesh cause irreparable harm to the consumer?  This blog post seeks to answer that question by exploring the potential consequences of consuming human flesh.

Figure 1: Fore man holding a skull

 

Cannibalism is the act of eating members of one’s own species.  Several animal species, including primates, have been known to participate in cannibalism, causing researchers to consider if there is an evolutionary cause for such practices.  While those questions continue to be investigated the health costs and benefits have been fully explored.  This line of research was taken up when a large number of Fore, an indigenous group from Papua New Guinea (Figure 1), were discovered to have a rare disease that was killing them off in droves.  Anthropologists and biologists teamed up to discover the origins of this disease, which the local Fore called “kuru” after the symptoms of the disease.  Initially the research team considered kuru a genetic disorder, but that was quickly ruled out when it was realized that women and children of all social groups and not directly related were suffering and dying from the disease.  It was later discovered that the Fore were dying due to the consumption of their dead, which was customary of their funerary rituals.  Men, women, and children would eat the dead, but it was the job of the women to consume the brains of the deceased.  They would share this delicacy with their children, as well, which narrowed down the culprit of the kuru disease.  Further investigation determined that kuru was a prion disease, much like Chronic Wasting Disease in deer, Mad Cow in cows, and Creutzfeld-Jacob disease in humans.  Prion diseases are caused by a twisted protein that causes degradation of the brain (Figure 2), leading to shivering, uncontrollably laughing, and loss of motor function.  While contraction of prion diseases is rare it is known that consumption of infected tissues, particularly brains, will lead to infection, although people can carry the prions for several years (and even decades) prior to contracting the disease. 

Kuru disappeared among the Fore once the custom of consuming the dead was banned, but the notion of consuming the dead leading to negative health outcomes continues.  While the Fore/kuru example is a very real consequence of eating the dead it only occurred when the Fore consumed infected brains, meaning the disease was passed on by consuming individuals who had previously died of or carried kuru (prions).  But is there evidence of this happening widespread?  The short answer is no, but that is because when incidences of cannibalism have occurred (e.g. the Franklin Expedition, the Donner Party, the soccer team of the Andes) no one has really stopped to consider the health consequences of such acts.  Typically, the horrors that led to such acts precluded the study of that aspect of the situation, or in the case of the Franklin Expedition there were too few survivors to ask about it.  So ultimately, we do not really know if consuming human flesh will cause any negative health outcomes if one consumes a healthy individual.

Figure 2: Normal (left) versus Kuru infected (right) brain cells

 

There are, however, other reasons why one should not consume human flesh.  In pursuit of the answers to why our hominid ancestors consumed each other scholars considered if there was a nutritional necessity to eat human flesh.  Ultimately, it was discovered that while eating human flesh does happen it is not a great idea because humans are nutritionally poor, meaning you are not getting enough calories.  If one were to consume only human flesh they run the risk of starving to death due to lack of caloric intake and nutritional values of the flesh. 

Now the purpose of this post is not to encourage readers to go out and Hannibal Lector (eat) the mail man or anyone else who may seem appetizing.  It does ultimately answer the question about whether or not it is a healthy idea, which it is not.  In this day and age when there are several fad diets and crazy ideas about staying healthy do not buy into the idea eating human flesh will make you healthier, younger, or stronger because there is not any evidence to support any of those notions.  Therefore, in the event of a zombie apocalypse our zombie brethren would ultimately die of starvation or a prion disease for eating human flesh or brains.

Bibliography

Akpan, N. (2017, April 6). If you had to eat a human, which body part should you pick first? Retrieved from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/served-archaeologist-considers-nutritional-value-humans

Bichell, R. E. (2016, September 6). When People Ate People, A Strange Disease Emerged. Retrieved from NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/06/482952588/when-people-ate-people-a-strange-disease-emerged

Engelhaupt, E. (2017, April 6). Cannibalism Study Finds People Are Not That Nutritious. Retrieved from National Geographic: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/human-cannibalism-nutrition-archaeology-science/

Hayes, J. (2012, July 26). Spotlight: Why Cannibalism is Bad for You. Retrieved from The Disease Daily: http://www.healthmap.org/site/diseasedaily/article/spotlight-why-cannibalism-bad-you-72612

Medline Plus. (2016, 11 14). Kuru. Retrieved from Medline Plus: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001379.htm

Stern, V. (2008, January 21). Not that I’m thinking about trying it, but is cannibalism unhealthy? Retrieved from Science Line: http://scienceline.org/2008/01/ask-stern-cannibal/