Recent Advances in the Characterization of Hair of Mummies from the Chilean Andean Coast

    April 2015 in “ Forensic science international ”
    Margaux Fresnais, Pascale Richardin, Alice Gimat, Marcela Sepúlveda, Emmanuelle Leize‐Wagner, Armelle Charrié-Duhaut
    TLDR The hair of two ancient Chilean mummies is well-preserved and contains high levels of heavy metals.
    The study analyzed hair from two pre-Hispanic mummies from the Andean coast, dating them to the Formative period (1700 BC–500 AD) using radiocarbon dating. The hair showed good structural conservation and contained significant amounts of heavy metals, including iron, lead, bromide, and arsenic. The presence of arsenic in one sample suggested chronic arsenic intoxication in some individuals. The research aimed to understand the historical context and environmental conditions of the mummies, with future work planned to investigate hair protein conservation at a molecular level using proteomics.
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