Students dig up 7,000-year-old mummy

A group of students, who were on a school trip to northern Chile, discovered a 7,000-year-old mummy by chance on Saturday.

The children are at-risk youths enrolled in an archeology workshop at Morro de Arica, a city known for its huge, imposing rock.

They were performing excavation work when a student found a strange shape under dog droppings, said La Tercera newspaper.

Reports say that ancient archeological artifacts have been forced toward the surface following the powerful 8.2 earthquake that hit the region in April

It is said that the newly-discovered mummy appears to be a part of the Chinchorro mummies that have been unearthed over the years.

Who are the Chinchorro?

They are prehistoric fisherfolk who lived in scattered villages along the desert coast of Chile and Peru.

To them, preserving the dead was a deeply religious act. 

While Egyptians believed only mummified kings and high-ranking officials, the Chinchorro preserved everyone - even newborns and foetuses.

Sources: National Geographic, AFP