Stunning Discovery of the Oldest Mummy in the World, 8,000 Years Old + Photos.

An archaeologist named Manuel Farinha dos Santos, who passed away in 2001, photographed 13 buried skeletons from a site that dates back 8,000 years in a valley called "Sado" in Portugal during the 1960s. These remains were excavated between 1960 and 1962.

Now, based on the analysis of these images, it has been revealed that the first human mummies may have originated in Europe, rather than Egypt or Chile.

This discovery is very significant because mummification is common in dry environments, but now, finding evidence of mummies in Europe, where the climate is much more humid, means that soft tissue mummification is rarely preserved in such conditions.

Rewriting History

This Portuguese archaeologist worked on the remains of these bodies in the early 1960s, and recently, images of the remains of the 13 people he had photographed were discovered.

The authors of this new study examined these previously unseen images, revealing black-and-white photos of the 13 buried bodies from the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, which had been excavated from the earth.

Thanks to these images, researchers were able to reconstruct the positions where the remains had been buried, providing an opportunity to gather more information about the burial ceremonies conducted 8,000 years ago.

These images were used to reconstruct the rituals and burial conditions at this site, and researchers found that the bones of one body had been "hyperflexed." This indicates that the person's arms and legs were moved beyond their natural limits and tightly bound.

Furthermore, based on the findings published in the European Journal of Archaeology, the bones of the skeleton, especially the small bones of the foot—usually completely disintegrated during decomposition—remained attached and in place.

When these clues and others were combined, they proved that this body had likely been mummified after death, possibly for reasons related to care and transport. Researchers believe this individual was dehydrated before gradually shrinking due to the tightening of the bindings. This process made transporting the body easier as it became more contracted and lighter.

Evidence obtained from other ancient skeletons from the same site shows that similar treatment was applied to these remains. However, these samples do not show the same combination of evidence.

Until now, the Chinchoro mummies in northern Chile were considered the oldest preserved human remains, dating back 7,000 years. Meanwhile, the ancient Egyptians had been mummifying bodies for 5,700 years.

Based on this new study, the first mummification activities took place in the Sado Valley in Portugal. However, it should be noted that the remains in the Sado Valley are no longer mummified, as their soft tissue has not been preserved, and the bodies are now fully skeletal.