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Published: August 28th 2005
Excavated burial chambers.
Being on display destroys them but generates income to protect the ones underground and build a facility to display them.Hello Blighty!
TODAY I HAVE TOUCHED THE YELLOW TEETH OF A DUDE 1000 YEARS OLD. FOR REAL!
But first. Greetings from a Jen, who hasnt had a
hot shower in 2 weeks. We checked into a hostel last nast which advertised 24 HOUR HOT WATER, with glee. Rich ran the shower for a minute and proclaimed it was indeed hot. Imagine what a buzz I got from this news. Not as much as a buzz as I got from the metal tap as I went to get in and got a darn electric shock! Nooo! Denied! All I want is a hot shower....
Anyway, we are currently in the desert. You can quite literally drive for hours and not see anything green. You wouldn´t want to get stuck here on your own. Well, where we are actually gets 3-4 hours rain a year, so its not too bad, honest.
Well, while waiting for our Nazca Lines Flight (see Rich´s "Crossing the Line") we signed up for a trip to the local cemetery, or in Spanish as the sign declared, and lets face it, its suitably more sinister, a trip to the
Baby toe nails and skin
Personally, I think its rank to not cut your toe nails for over 1000 years. :
NECROPOLIS DE CHAUCHILLA Basically, its this mega graveyard from a Pre-Incan society. Its 2km by 300m and quite literally the entire site is COVERED in human bones.
It was found in 1901 and there are supposed to be over 2000 mummies buried there. 12 tombs have been excavated by archeologists over the last 17 years, although loads more have been pillaged for the ceramics and stuff. They havent even uncovered 1%!a(MISSING)pparantly.
The bodies were buried in the foetal position for their rebirth to the next life (possibly) and the skin and hair is still on the ones that have been excavated recently. The sun has bleached all the bones on the excavated stuff, and its destroying the skin and hair. So they leave most underground but they need tourists to pay for the two guards there now. Before this the salts, nitrates and lack of humidity have kept the bodies and tapestries and clothes perfectly preserved for so long.
At one point there was a lower jaw bone revealed from the sand, and guess who our guide asked to touch the teeth! Me! I must have the crazy
The Original Buffalo Soldier
Dredlock Rasta!
I have honestly never seen inside someones ribcage before. Some of that stuff is wool, and some is human hair. look of someone who´s been too long in ´Nam (BirmingNam, that is.) Totally raving to think that these folk were buried here somewhere around 1300-2000 years ago. They don´t really know much about them, except they were a peaceful tribe, and some of them liked to make their babies heads grow into a cone shape by compressing them for a few baby-years. But we didnt see any cone head skellys.
Right, I´m off, I´m
dying for a drink.....
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kate hill
non-member comment
dem bones dem bones
dear jen and rich think its time you moved on how do you know they have been dead for 1000 years if they got skin on they could be pretty recent......