ECUADOR MUMMY – Mystery of Ecuador’s Guano mummy deepens
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The mystery of the Guano mummy, a naturally mummified body discovered here 73 years ago has deepened in the wake of a scientific analysis indicating that the remains are not those of a 16th-century Spanish friar on a mission to evangelize the indigenous people of present-day central Ecuador.
Measuring 156 cm (61.4 in) and encased in a jar, the body was found following the earthquake that rocked Guano on Aug. 5, 1949, which caused one of the walls of the colonial-era church to collapse.
It was long thought that the mummy corresponded to Fray Lazaro de Santofimia, a guardian of the Church of the Assumption and the adjoining Franciscan monastery.