In Search Of The Immortals

Plot

The author, a documentary filmmaker and anthropologist, takes his readers to sites in Central Asia, Siberia, Europe, Morocco, Egypt, Canary Islands, Chile, and Peru, in his attempt to answer fundamental questions about why ancient peoples practiced mummification. He draws upon research from recent excavations at these sites and on the expertise of scholars who accompanied him at various stages of his journey. In the Canary Islands, for example, where the Guanches mummified their dead, he met with local archaeologists and with Thor Heyerdahl, who gave his views on the possibility of an Egyptian connection. In Chile, where the practice of mummification is the oldest on Earth, Reid draws upon the findings of physical anthropologist Bernardo Arriaza, whom he also consulted.