A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have
been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure tochemicals,
extreme cold (ice mummies), very low humidity,
or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the
recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some
authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with
chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes
back at least to the 1730s.
Mummies of humans and other animals have been found all
around the world, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual
conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have
been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. The oldest known naturally
mummified human corpse is a severed head dated
as 6,000 years old, found in 1936 at the site named Inca Cueva No. 4 in South
America.
In addition to the well-known mummies of Ancient Egypt,
deliberate mummification was a feature of several ancient cultures in areas of
South America and Asia which have very dry climates. There are more than 1000
mummies in Xinjiang,
China. The oldest-known deliberate mummy is a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile,
and dates from around 5050 BC
