Natural mummies

Mummies that are formed as a result of naturally-occurring environmental conditions, such as extreme cold (Ötzi the Iceman, Ice Maiden), acid (Tollund Man) or desiccating dryness (Tarim mummies), have been found all over the world. More than a thousand Iron Age corpses, so called "bog bodies," have been found in bogs in northern Europe. These include the Gallagh Man, the Yde Girl and the Lindow Man.^[11]

A Tarim Basin mummy photographed by Aurel Stein circa 1910.

Natural mummification is fairly rare, requiring specific conditions to occur, but it has produced some of the oldest known mummies. The most famous ancient mummy is Ötzi the Iceman, frozen in a glacier in the Ötztal Alps around 3300 B.C.E. and found in 1991. An even older but less well-preserved unnamed mummy was found in Spirit Cave, Nevada in 1940 and carbon-dated to around 7400 B.C.E.
The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark have all produced a number of bog bodies, mummies of people deposited in sphagnum bogs, apparently as a result of murder or ritual sacrifices. In such cases the acidity of the water, cold temperature, and lack of oxygen combined to tan the body's skin and soft tissues. The skeleton typically disintegrates over time. Such mummies are remarkably well-preserved, with skin and internal organs surviving; it is even possible to determine what their last meal was by examining their stomach contents.
In 1972, eight remarkably preserved mummies were discovered at an abandoned Inuit settlement called Qilakitsoq, in Greenland. The "Greenland Mummies" consisted of a six-month old baby, a four year old boy, and six women of various ages, who died around 500 years ago. Their bodies were naturally mummified by the sub-zero temperatures and dry winds in the cave in which they were found.^{[12] [13]}
A number of mummies have been found in the Chehrabad Salt Mine in Iran.^[14]
Some of the best-preserved mummies date from the Inca period in Peru some 500 years ago, where children were ritually sacrificed and placed on the summits of mountains in the Andes. Also found in this area are the Chinchorro mummies, which are among the oldest mummified bodies ever found. The cold, dry climate had the effect of desiccating the corpses and preserving them intact.