NEW GUINEA MUMMIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 169, 22 July 1935, Page 9

NEW GUINEA MUMMIES

AT LEAST 1000 YEARS OLD FOUND IN LIMESTONE CAVE. SYDNEV, July JI. A hat he termed an event of the first, anthropological and ethnological importance—the discovery of mummified remains, more than 1UO<) years old, in the depths of a labyrinthine cavern, iu New Guinea—was desevribed by Dr. J. R. Atcherly, formerly of the 'Territory Administration, and now of Few Morobe Gold Options. The discovery, which has aroused wide scientific interest, was made in limestone caves in rough mountainous country about 30 miles inland from Salainoa, and is re markable because, IDr. Atchiejrley says, there had been n o definite knowledge hitherto ol any New Guinea tribe which mummified or in any way preserved its dead. ’ 1 was wilh a gold expedition when I discovered the cave.” said Dr. At chcrlcy. “It was about 40 feel from the ground, and was a tortuous winding labyrinth. To explore it we had to use the classic device of a ball of string to mark the way back, inside we found a shelved mausoleum, on which were hundreds of mummies, all sitting with their chins on their hands anti tlietr elbows on their knees. Many of them almost reproduced the posture of Rodin’s sculpture "The Thinker.” It appeared to mo they had been preserved by the dripping of limewater fro tnihe cave stained ities. Local scientists believe, however, that there

was mummification before the cave burial as well.” Dr. Atcherloy added that the features of the mummies were negroid, although their pigmentation, apparently was lighter than that of the New Guinea natives of to-day. This coloration, however, might have been induced by the action of the limowater. "It is impossible to toll the age of the mummies,” he said. "Opinion varies between 1000 and 2000 years, but tests are being made, including ray examination, which will rnve-al their approximate age.” Dr. Atcherley lodged a specimen at the Rabaul Museum, and ho said that Melbourne Museum was also eager to acquire one. Mr. 11. A. Longman, director of the Queensland Muselm, Brisbane, commenting on the discovery, said that as far back as 1880 L. M. D’Albertis, a well-known Italian explorer and a pioneer explorer of New Guinea, haa discovered mummified human remains in New Guinea. Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, the famous Australian anatomist had asserted that there could be no doubt that the practice of mummification had spread along the north coast of New Guinea, and then around its eastern extremities to the islands of Torres Straits, where the practice was seen in its fully-developed from. Sir Grafton Elliot Smith considered that the practice of mummification in New Guinea and other parts of tho world spread from ancient Egypt, and that many native races had dopted to some extent, although in a much more crude form, the methods of tho Egyptian embalmers.