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Acusa "Beyond the Beaches of Gran Canaria"
October 29, 1999
[image]Burial sites are located in natural caves slightly removed from the habitation areas. Prehistoric Canarians embalmed bodies and wrapped them in rush matting or sewn goat skins. Gómez Escudero, a historian during the conquest, wrote:
They kept lard and fat in earthenware jars, and fragrant woods, for the needs of the dead; anointing them, smoking them, and putting them into burnt sand left them embalmed, and after 15 or 20 days, they placed them in caves....

A burial cave at Acusa was found in the 1930s containing six bodies: two women, three men, and a young boy. These mummies are on display at the museum in Las Palmas.

Left: Mummy of an adult found at Acusa. Photo courtesy Museo Canario, Las Palmas. Click for detail.

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© 1999 by the Archaeological Institute of America
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