Remains of woman from 800 years ago found in canoe buried in Northwest Patagonia

Bob Yirka is a research scientist at Phys.org.

The first evidence of a woman being buried in a canoe in Argentina was found by a group of researchers. The group describes their study of the remains in their paper.

There is a dig site close to Lake Lacr in western Argentina. The researchers were not able to determine the cause of death for the woman who was between 17 and 25 years old. Fire was used to hollow out the wooden canoes of the time. The woman was probably a member of the Mapuche culture and died before the Spanish arrived, according to the testing of her bones.

Most canoe burials were for men, but this is the first time a canoe-type burial has been seen in Argentina. The practice may have been more widespread than thought by the researchers.

It has been suggested that burying people in a canoe was a part of a ritual that would allow them to make their final journey to the destination of souls.

Someone put a jug next to her head and there were also signs that she had been buried on a bed of freshwater clams. She appeared to have been laid in a canoe as a sort of coffin before being buried.

More information: Alberto E. Pérez et al, A pre-Hispanic canoe or Wampo burial in Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, PLOS ONE (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272833 Journal information: PLoS ONE

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