1000 to 1500 year old Chilean mummies have been found to contain arsenic

The Dhaka Times Desk Extensive research is being done on mummies to know the ancient history. Following that, researching the mummies found in Chile has found a large presence of arsenic in their bodies.

Pre-Columbian civilizations in northern Chile, including the Incas and Chinchoro cultures, suffered severe arsenic poisoning from the contaminated water they used. Previous studies have found evidence of arsenic in the hair of mummies from both highland and coastal areas. But the researchers could not understand whether the poison was absorbed from the soil after being buried in the human stomach.

A recent study led by archaeologist Luana Kakooli of the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. The new study uses advanced technology to analyze mummy hair. In this case, 1000 to 1500-year-old mummy hair from the Tarapaca Valley of the Atacama Desert in Chile is taken as a sample. The reason hair is the subject of research is that everything changes over time, including bones and skin, but hair remains unchanged. That is, the hair stores the information of various elements of the body and blood before death.

Kakooli and his assistants used high-tech techniques to examine the mummy's hair, skin and clothes, as well as the soil around it. As usual, arsenic is present in everything. They then examined the mummy's hair with a very high-powered electron microscope. It was also tested with X-rays at the synchrotron instrument at the Lawrence Berkeley National Research Center in California. The results showed that arsenic poisoning was caused by drinking the water.

Arsenic-5 is commonly found in soil and water. As a result of physical activity, it is converted to arsenic-3. Tests found arsenic-3 in the mummy's hair. which establishes the decision taken.

According to Kakooli, extensive copper mining is the main cause of arsenic contamination. From here, arsenic fell into the river along with rain water. People die of arsenic poisoning because of drinking that water.

Source: Mashable