Michael’s Reviews > Beyond Death: The Chinchorro Mummies of Ancient Chile > Status Update

The Chinchorro culture began to preserve their dead artificially about 5050 BC...The Chinchorros preceded Egyptian mummification by nearly 2000 years.

When people become sedentary, they develop cemeteries to bury their dead to avoid the foul smell of decomposing flesh and the visibility of dead loved ones, and to prevent scavengers from attacking the body. Chinchorros had formal cemeteries with artificially prepared bodies, which supports the argument that they were sedentary.