426 ACCOUNT OF HUMAN EEMAINS TKOM PATAGONIA. 



ACCOUiNT OF HUMAN REMAINS FROM PATAGONIA 



IN THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



PRESENTED BY DR. AQ. RIED. 



The accompanying female mummy was found about two months ago on the 

 west coast of Patagonia, in latitude 44° south, near a point marked on the charts 

 "Refujio bay." 



A considerable number of human skeletons and detached human bones were 

 discovered, occupying a species of cavern on the face of the rocks that bind the 

 coast, at an elevation of about one hundred feet above high-water mark, and at 

 no great distance from the beach. Some of the skeletons retained part of the 

 hair, integuments, and soft tissues, in various stages of decomposition ; the body 

 under consideration was, however, the only one in a state approaching preserva- 

 tion. Few similar specimens have hitherto been procured — two are in the 

 national museum at Santiago ; a third Avas sent about ten years ago to the 

 museum at Ratisbon, in Bavaria, by the writer of these remarks; and the fourth 

 is the one herewith presented to the Institution. 



That Jew human bodies should be met with in these regions, even so imper- 

 fectly preserved as the one in question, is not to be wondered at, if we take into 

 account the climate, so peci;liarly unfavorable to the preservation of animal 

 fibre, on account of the quantity of moisture with which the atmosphere is 

 impregnated. 



We possess no reliable observations on the temperature of the district, but 

 navigators and hunters agree in stating that ice is a rare occurrence, and that 

 snow never remains long on the ground. The winter consists of a scarcely 

 interrupted series of gales, with heavy rains, and lasts for iipwards of six months 

 of the year. Although sheltered from the direct action of the snow and rain, 

 the bodies lay exposed to the indirect influence of atmospheric changes — the 

 caverns being of no great depth, and the bodies completely uncovered. 



The question naturally presents itself. From what cause have these bodies 

 resisted the decomposing action of putrefactive fermentation? Are there any 

 local natural causes to explain a phenomenon which appears in contradiction 

 with what might be expected under ordinary circumstances, but particularly under 

 those mentioned? I am not aware that any notice has been taken of this fact 

 by any writer on natural history; and yet it appears sufficiently interesting to 

 deserve attention. 



From the northern border of Patagonia up to the southern termination of the 

 great desert of Atacama, the human body, after death, goes through the usual 

 process of decay. No doubt in Patagonia the same result takes place, but there 

 are evidently numerous exceptions to the rule, as many skeletons are met with 

 on which the soft parts are only exsiccated, tendons and muscles adhering to 

 the bone, in a state of semi-preservation. 



To suppose that the bodies had been made to undergo some preparation de- 

 signed to preserve them, would be to assume the existence of a state of civilization 

 which no collateral evidence warrants us in doing. Besides, the bodies them- 

 selves present no traces of the employment of any artificial means for such a 

 purpose. 



* See page 87 of this Report. 



