Intricate Tattoos Revealed on Peruvian Mummies Using Lasers
A study of ancient mummies in Peru has revealed a new layer to the social and cultural complexity of the Chancay culture. Researchers have been studying the mummies of the Chancay, using laser stimulated fluorescence to reveal the intricate but faded tattoos that often adorn them.
The study, headed by Michael Pittman from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and published in PNAS, found that by using lasers to fluoresce the target (essentially shining lasers at the mummy) worked especially well to produce a high-contrast and clear image which eliminated the ink bleed that would be expected of such ancient tattoos.
The results were surprising: the level of detail and complexity of the tattoos appears to surpass anything we know about the Chancay from their other works. There is nothing on Chancay pottery or other textiles, nothing on Chancay rock art, of this level of sophistication.
- The Cranium from the Octagon: Do We Have the Skull of Cleopatra’s Sister?
- The Harpe Brothers: The First Serial Killers in American History
Which is not to say the Chancay did not produce much that was beautiful. They were a Pre-Hispanic culture of coastal Peru, traders situated just north of Lima who emerged after the fall of the Wari, mountain predecessors of the Inca. As with most of such cultures they were rolled up into the mighty Inca Empire in the century before the arrival of Europeans.
The dry arid conditions on the Peruvian coast preserved much that would otherwise have been lost. Delicate Chancay textiles in cloth with their strange anthropomorphic figures are still vividly colorful, and the mummies themselves owe their current state of preservation to how dry it is there.
The tattoos themselves are some 1,200 years old, and their spidery detail means they must have been inked using fine cactus spines and sharpened bones rather than the usual “cut and fill” method. They could faintly be seen with the naked eye on the mummies, from the Cerro Colorado cemetery in the Huaura valley of Peru, but they had dramatically faded over time.
Using laser fluorescence did not just enhance the image however, but also allowed the researchers to see past a lifetime of ink bleed making the tattoo appear fuzzier. The results allowed the tattoos to be viewed as they were originally.
The tattoos include repeating patterning across the skin, creating an appearance of scales, as well as depictions of animals. Networks of fine lines which were totally invisible show a hidden layer of detail and care which went into these adornments, and the importance they had to the lost Chancay culture.
Original Study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2421517122.
Header Image: Chancay mummy under laser fluorescent light. Source: Original Study / Judyta Bąk.
Leave a Reply