Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Mummies and mummification are typically associated with and attributed to the Egyptians. Few people are aware that they were not the first civilisation to mummify their dead, not perhaps the most sophisticated. This wonderful book, by someone who has had first-hand experience of studying and filming mummies all over the world, redresses the balance and outlines some of the other societies which practised mummification. Including the Chinchorros of coastal Peru, the Chachapoyas in the Andes, the Caucasians in China, northern Europeans and the Guanches in the Canary Islands. Aimed at the general reader, this book brings us a further insight into the meaning, experience and spiritualism of human death.
Synopsis
Egypt was not the only ancient culture that preserved its dead. As this fascinating study shows, communities across the Old and New Worlds went to often extraordinary lengths to preserve their loved ones, enemies or sacrificial victims. Other bodies, such as the Ice Man or some bog victims, were mummified by chance. All provide an invaluable glimpse into the lives and beliefs of ancient societies, many of which have left little other evidence. Reid, an anthropologist and film maker, examines bodies in Asia, Siberia, North-West Europe, the Canary Islands, Egypt, Chile, Peru and the Andes, as well as the circumstances surrounding their deaths.