The 1,100-year-old mummified remains of a man reveal he likely died in an ancient turquoise mining accident in Chile. Extensive evidence of blunt-force trauma discovered on the man's skeleton suggests he died because of a rockfall or mine collapse, according to a new study.
The naturally mummified body, along with grave goods that included a bow and arrow and a snuff kit for hallucinogenic drugs, was originally excavated in the 1970s from an area just outside a pre-Hispanic turquoise mine in the northern Chilean city of El Salvador in the middle of the Atacama Desert. A visible fracture in the mummy's left lower leg bone suggested the man might have been involved in an accident, but a full analysis of the body was not completed until 2023.
