Did Other Cultures Used Mummification?

Many civilizations—Incan, Australian aboriginal, Aztec, African, ancient European and others—have practiced some type of mummification for thousands of years to honor and preserve the bodies of the dead. Mummification rituals varied by culture, and it's thought some cultures mummified all their citizens.

Do any cultures still mummify?

Some villagers in Papua New Guinea still mummify their ancestors today. After death, bodies are placed in a hut and smoked until the skin and internal organs are desiccated. Then they're covered in red clay, which helps maintain their structural integrity, and placed in a jungle shrine.

Did mummification exist in cultures beside ancient Egypt?

Mummies are generally associated with ancient Egypt. But two thousand years before the Egyptians, the Chinchorro culture was already mummifying its dead. The Chinchorro people lived on the coast of the Atacama Desert, in modern-day Peru and Chile.