Prehistoric Mummies Poisoned
Arsenic-laced water may have killed off coastal peoples in Chile.
Poison-laced drinking water killed some of the world's oldest mummies, which are found in the harsh northern deserts of Chile, a new study says.
Arsenic, which occurs in hígh levels in drinking water in Chile's northern Camarones Valley (see map), the deadly element likely poisoned the coastal Chinchorro people for centuries, starting at least 7,000 years ago, mummy-hair analyses show.
"I believe [these] ancient people were continuously exposed to arsenic by drinking contaminated water with hígh arsenic levels [that is] endemic to the Camarones regíon," said study leader Bernardo Arriaza of Chile's Universidad de Tarapacá de Arica.
Read the full story at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... n-arsenic/
Arsenic-laced water may have killed off coastal peoples in Chile.
Poison-laced drinking water killed some of the world's oldest mummies, which are found in the harsh northern deserts of Chile, a new study says.
Arsenic, which occurs in hígh levels in drinking water in Chile's northern Camarones Valley (see map), the deadly element likely poisoned the coastal Chinchorro people for centuries, starting at least 7,000 years ago, mummy-hair analyses show.
"I believe [these] ancient people were continuously exposed to arsenic by drinking contaminated water with hígh arsenic levels [that is] endemic to the Camarones regíon," said study leader Bernardo Arriaza of Chile's Universidad de Tarapacá de Arica.
Read the full story at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... n-arsenic/
