Max Uhle discovered artificially mummified bodies of the Chinchorro culture dating to 5000 BC near Arica, Chile, in the Atacama Desert—the oldest known mummies. These predate Egyptian practices and featured complex preparation. Found along the Pacific coast of South America, they reveal early Andean ritual practices.

The mummies inspire poetry on death, preservation, and prehistory in Latin American literature, enriching themes of ancestral memory and desert environments in contemporary verse.