{"id":143484,"date":"2025-07-16T09:25:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canariaslife.com\/?p=143484"},"modified":"2026-10-23T17:39:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T16:39:05","slug":"embalming-among-indigenous-peoples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canariaslife.com\/en\/el-embalsamiento-en-los-aborigenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Embalming in indigenous peoples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Embalming in Aborigine Societies<\/h1><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Plaster <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aboriginal Canarian Embalming: History and Rituals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What was Canarian aboriginal embalming?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Canarian aboriginal embalming <\/strong>was a funeral practice reserved for certain social groups and documented mainly in Tenerife and Gran Canaria before the Castilian conquest. Unlike what occurred in Ancient Egypt, this process was simpler and primarily performed on high-ranking individuals, such as the menceyes of Tenerife or the nobility of Gran Canaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word used by the aborigines to refer to this technique is \"MIRLADO\"<\/strong>, while the finally preserved body was called \"XAXO\"<\/strong>, a term that means something like \"dried and hardened body.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origin and early descriptions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first written testimony about the Canarian aboriginal embalming <\/strong>it was left by Diogo Gomes de Sintra, a Portuguese sailor who visited the Canary Islands before the conquest of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. In his chronicles, he describes how the internal organs of the body were extracted and filled with butter, before being placed in caves or even thrown into the sea after a year of observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fray Alonso de Espinosa, a 16th-century chronicler, detailed how the body was exposed to the sun for at least 15 days until it became \"xaxo\"<\/strong>, a state of natural preservation without complex chemical products like those used in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Interior <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Differences with Egyptian mummification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although they share similarities, there are significant differences between the Canarian aboriginal embalming <\/strong>and Egyptian mummification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n