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A mummified Chinchorro baby lies inside Azapa's San Miguel Museum in Arica city, north Santiago, in this October 27, 2005 file picture. Chilean researchers are seeking conservation aid to protect a collection of mummified human remains found in northern Chile, the oldest mummies discovered in the world to date. The nearly 300 “Chinchorro” mummies, which have been recovered in recent years from the dry coastal area near the Peru border, are thought to date from between 5000 and 1500 B.C. “The dates that we have for the bodies are from 7,000 years ago … so they have more relative antiquity in terms of intentional work on the human body than that found in Egypt”, said Sergio Medina Parra, anthropologist and department head at University of Tarapaca in the northern city of Arica. Medina is leading an attempt to get the Chinchorro mummies recognized by U.N. heritage body UNESCO as a world heritage site. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)
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