The Guanche mummies of Necochea are two

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest ...

individuals, who were the ancient

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

autochthones of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. The specimens are currently on display at the

Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. ...

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

. The

Necochea Necochea is a port and beach city in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The city is located on the Atlantic coast, along the mouth of the Quequén Grande River, from Buenos Aires and southwest of Mar del Plata. The city proper ha ...

mummies are so-called because they were first exhibited in 2003 at the Museo Civil de Ciencias Naturales in Necochea,

Province of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

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. These two individuals, male and female respectively, the woman would have between 20 and 24 years and is wrapped in a bundle of pigskin. The other mummy is a man between 25 and 29 years and has a special feature, its position with legs bent with his heels against his buttocks. According to experts, the mummies date back to the ninth century. The exact place on the island where the mummies come from is not known. It is believed that one of the mummies may even come from a burial cave in the ''Barranco de Guayonje'' in

Tacoronte Tacoronte is a city and municipality of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. It is located in the north-east of the island. Mostly rural, the municipality stretches for 30 square kilometers from the volcanic peaks that rise in the center of the island ...

and the other mummy of

La Orotava La Orotava is a town and a municipality in the northern part of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands of Spain. The area of the municipality stretches from the north coast to the mountainous interior, and includes the summit of the Teide volcano, ...

, but according to others could come from ''Barranco de Herques'' in

Güímar Güímar () is the name of a municipality, town and valley in the eastern part of the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province). The municipality extends for 102.9 square kilometers from ...

. They were part of the collection of a private museum in Tacoronte. In the nineteenth century it was sold to the

La Plata Museum The La Plata Museum ( es, Museo de la Plata) is a natural history museum in La Plata, Argentina. It is part of the (Natural Sciences School) of the UNLP (National University of La Plata). The building, long, today houses 3 million fossils and ...

in Argentina, reaching the hands of an unidentified collector. They were later transferred to the city of Necochea, until, in 2003, were returned to Tenerife. This was the first return of mummified human remains from the

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in the history of archeology.

Data on the mummies

* Gender: male and female. * Age: 20 and 24 years female mummy and 25 and 29 years male mummy. * Culture: Guanche. * Type of mummification: mummies ceremonial. * Type of burial: burial cave. * Location: It is not known exactly, but possibly were found in the present municipalities of

or in

. * Shown at: The Museum of Nature and Man (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), along with other Guanche mummies preserved. * Interesting facts: The woman is wrapped in a shroud particularly pigskin and man has legs bent with the heels against the buttocks.

References

{{coord missing, Spain Guanche mummies

Data on the mummies

See also

References