In 1972, hunters found something in a peculiar grave site in Greenland and thought it was just a doll, but what they discovered later shocked the whole world. Apparently, it is a mummy, the best-preserved human remains ever discovered in North America.

Inside the peculiar grave are bodies naturally mummified by the sub-zero temperatures and dry, dehydrating winds of the shallow cave. The bodies were found stacked on top of each other with layers of animal skin in between. There are two separate tombs protected by rocks and they found eight mummies, six women, and two children.

Qilakitsoq Mummies 5

The “Greenland Mummies” were found at an abandoned Inuit settlement called Qilakitsoq which means “place of the small sky”, dating about more or less 1475 A.D.


The first tombs consist of three women, a two-year-old boy, and the six-month-old baby, and the second tomb consists of three women.

Qilakitsoq Mummies 6

They thought the small Inuit baby was a doll, soon discovered it was a body of a six-month-old boy.


They believed he was buried alive with his already dead mother. It is believed that no one will take care of him that’s why he was heartlessly buried together with his mother.


Here’s a depiction of the two graves containing the mummies.


The mystery surrounding their deaths intrigued scientists. The fact that the two graves contained women and children but no men puzzled them. Eventually, DNA test shows all of them were related exempt for one. Scientist believed that the burying alive of the Inuit baby boy is an Inuit custom, a practice purely cruel now. Although the Inuit believed that the child and its mother would travel to the land of the dead together.

Watch this video from Tales of the Living Dead:

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These findings give us closer insights into the life and customs of ancient people. Mummies are all over the world, but only a few are well preserved and available for deeper studies. Don’t forget to share this story with your friends.

Sources: ancient-originsourheritage