{"id":143484,"date":"2025-07-16T09:25:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canariaslife.com\/?p=143484"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:43:21","slug":"el-embalsamiento-en-los-aborigenes","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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\"\" <\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Canarian Aborigine 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 funerary practice exclusive to certain social groups in Gran Canaria and Tenerife before the Spanish conquest. Unlike what occurred in Ancient Egypt, this process was simpler and was primarily performed on high-ranking individuals, such as the Menceyes.<\/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>was left by Diogo Gomes de Sintra, a Portuguese sailor who visited the Canary Islands before the arrival of the Spanish. In his chronicles, he describes how the internal organs were extracted from the body and filled with butter, then deposited 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

\"\" <\/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