Category - Ecuador
Archaeologists Find ‘Unusual’ Dismembered Female Mummy
Archaeologists have unearthed an “unusual” discovery in Ecuador — the mummified corpse of a pregnant woman who was seemingly murdered and dismembered. The findings were announced in an article published in Latin American Antiquity.
According to lead author Sara Juengst, a bioarchaeologist at Charlotte’s University of North Carolina, the burial dates back to somewhere between 650 and 1532 A.D. during the country’s Manteño period. The Manteño people were not part of the Incan empire, but they were heavily influenced by that culture’s customs and reliance on agriculture. Six burial plots were found on the site, but Juengst and her colleagues felt that the pregnant woman's was particularly significant.
Through a detailed analysis of the decayed bones, Juengst and her team pieced together what they believe were the final moments of the woman’s life. She likely “received a blow to the head (intentional or accidental)” which caused her death, the report explains.
Related: Archaeologists Find Neolithic Skeletons Unearthed in France Likely Killed 'Mafia-Style'
“Before burial but around the time of death, her hands and left leg were removed. She was then buried in an earthen pit with a mix of Manteño and earlier offerings,” including ornaments made from mollusk shells; obsidian blades placed around her body; and a crab claw left on her abdomen. There were also cockle shells placed on top of the cadaver’s eyes.

Sara Juegas/UNC Charlotte

Sara Juegas/UNC Charlotte
The grave also contained a skull situated at the woman’s shoulder and a “burnt offering” sitting atop her chest, which researchers determined through radiocarbon dating was likely inserted into the plot centuries after the burial. “Whether through accidental discovery or because the spot was marked, a burnt offering was placed on her chest. Although speculative, these activities seem the most parsimonious interpretation of the current evidence.”
Though human sacrifice was a common practice during Ecuador’s Manteño period, Juegnst and the other authors have difficulty aligning the apparent brutality of the woman’s death with her reverent burial. “The dehumanizing and disempowering way she was killed contrasts sharply with the fact that her grave was filled with precious trade goods,” Juengst told Live Science.
“The fact that it was a woman who was pregnant might indicate that women held important positions of power, and thus their power needed to be 'managed,'” Juengst continued. “If a rival of this woman wanted to take over, they would need to eliminate her and her unborn offspring, but also still give her honor based on her status.”