Students discover a mummy during an expedition in coastal Chile

The original version [es] of this post was written by Corresponsales from El Morrocotudo and was published on El Morrocotudo on May 26, 2014.

Ten student members from the Academy of Archaeology in municipal school E -26 “America” have had an unforgettable experience.

With their background notes in hand, they arrived at an area next to the Morro, a small rounded hill in front of the coastal city El Laucho, in order to view the skeletal remains that were unearthed as a consequence of an earthquake in April.

Because the area is so steep, they came equipped with binoculars and a telescope to be able to appreciate the remains of a skull and scattered bones.

After their observations, each student had to take notes about what they saw and later they would have to write an evaluation.

An unexpected mummy

Just as the group started to pick up the tools they had used to observe the skeletons, something unexpected happened. A group up ahead led by teacher Hans Neira and student Mijael Flores decided to examine a nearby area. Climbing up to it, they found other remains and could clearly observe the lower extremities of what appeared to be an infant.

They carefully proceeded to check out the place, taking notes and pictures, so as to prepare a report for the academy and for the pertinent authorities who guard these kinds of findings.

“A perfect journey”

“I think this has really been the culmination of a perfect journey, the discovery of these remains, but it is also a wake-up call as this place should be guarded for what it represents, understanding that this is a great pre-colonial cemetery that extends further south of this area”, the teacher noted.

“A strange formation, which had dog feces, caught my attention, and when we looked through it we found these remains”, said the excited boy, who has dreamed for a long time of becoming an archaeologist when he grows up.

This post was written by a Mi voz correspondent and translated by Gabriela García Calderón. It was originally posted on GlobalVoices.org and it has been republished under a Creative Commons license. 

 

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