When Portuguese archaeologist Manuel Farinha dos Santos passed away in 2001, he left behind a remarkable archive of photographs from his excavations in Portugal’s Sado Valley during the 1960s. Decades later, these rediscovered images have revealed what researchers now describe as the oldest known evidence of mummification in the world — pushing back the timeline of this sophisticated funerary practice by a millennium.
In a study published in the European Journal of Archaeology, an international team of archaeologists presents compelling evidence that at least some of the 8,000-year-old remains from the Sado Valley were deliberately mummified prior to burial. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about the origins and spread of mummification practices in prehistory.
“Some bodies may have been mummified prior to burial, a phenomenon possibly linked to their curation and transport, highlighting the significance of both the body and the burial place in Mesolithic south-western Portugal,” the authors explain.
Unveiling the Evidence Through Forgotten Images
The key to this discovery lay not in preserved soft tissue — which rarely survives in Europe’s temperate climate — but in meticulous analysis of the 1960s excavation photographs. Using the interdisciplinary approach known as archaeothanatology, the researchers examined the positioning and condition of 13 skeletons and compared them with modern decomposition experiments conducted at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility at Texas State University.
Three critical observations stand out:
- Hyperflexion of the bones: In one skeleton, the limbs were positioned in ways that exceeded their natural range of motion, strongly suggesting they had been deliberately bound or tied into a contracted posture with materials that later decayed.
- Lack of disarticulation: The bones remained in their anatomical positions far more intact than would be expected from a fresh cadaver buried directly in the ground. This stability indicates the body had already been desiccated before interment.
- Intact surrounding soil: Unlike a decomposing body, which creates voids in the sediment as soft tissues break down and collapse, the soil matrix around these graves showed minimal disturbance. This implies the body entered the grave in a dried, mummified state.
These clues, invisible during the original excavation but clear in high-quality archival photographs, paint a vivid picture of intentional mortuary preparation.
How the Ancient Mummies Were Made
Drawing on the Texas State University experiments, the team reconstructed a likely mummification process used by Mesolithic communities in the region. The bodies were probably bound tightly, placed on an elevated platform to allow bodily fluids to drain, and then dried further using controlled exposure to fire. The result was a significantly lighter, more compact, and stable form — ideal for transport over distance.
The researchers, led by bioarchaeologist Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna of Uppsala University in Sweden, argue that this preparation served practical and cultural purposes.
“In this case, the pre-burial treatment would allow for the body to be curated for some time and facilitate its transport (being more contracted and significantly lighter than the fresh cadaver) while ensuring that it was buried while retaining its anatomical integrity,” the study notes. “These practices would also underscore the significance of the burial places and the importance of bringing the dead to these locations in a manner that contained and protected the body, following principles that were culturally regulated.”
Rewriting the Global Timeline
If confirmed, the Sado Valley mummies would predate the previously oldest known intentional mummy — discovered in Chile’s Atacama Desert — by approximately 1,000 years. The Atacama example dates to around 7,000 years ago. By comparison, the oldest known Egyptian mummies are roughly 4,000 years old, though embalming practices may have begun as early as 5,700 years ago. In Europe, the oldest previously identified intentional mummies date to about 1,000 B.C.
The discovery is particularly significant because Europe’s wetter environment has historically made the preservation of mummified remains far less likely than in the arid deserts of Egypt or South America. As Peyroteo-Stjerna told Live Science, “It’s very hard to make these observations, but it’s possible with combined methods and experimental work.”
The team’s innovative use of archaeothanatology, archival photography, and forensic experimentation offers a new model for identifying mummification practices at other sites where only skeletal remains survive.
A Deeper Cultural Insight
Beyond the technical achievement, the Sado Valley findings illuminate the complex relationship Mesolithic people had with death and the afterlife. Mummification appears to have been part of a deliberate strategy to honor certain individuals by transporting them to symbolically important locations for burial. The process reflects both logistical ingenuity and profound cultural reverence for the body and the chosen resting place.
As more researchers apply these analytical techniques to other Mesolithic and Neolithic sites, it is becoming increasingly clear that mummification was not an isolated innovation of later civilizations but a practice with deep prehistoric roots across multiple continents.
The forgotten photographs of Manuel Farinha dos Santos have done more than preserve a moment in archaeological history — they have opened a window into one of humanity’s earliest known attempts to defy the natural processes of decay and preserve the dignity of the dead for eternity. In doing so, they may well force us to rewrite the timeline of one of the most enduring and mysterious human rituals.