Technology just gave us the ultimate time machine.
Researchers in Britain figured out how to see through centuries-old burial masks without destroying them.
And when you see what these ancient Colombians looked like, you’ll realize how wrong we’ve been about life in the Americas before Columbus.
Digital archaeology pulls off the impossible
A team at Liverpool John Moores University cracked a puzzle that’s stumped historians for generations.
How do you see the actual face of someone who died centuries ago when it’s covered by an elaborate burial mask?
The answer turned out to be high-tech detective work that would make CSI jealous.
These weren’t your typical mummies from Egypt or Peru.
Four bodies discovered in eastern Colombia’s mountain region represent a timeline stretching from the early 1200s all the way to the late 1700s – nearly six centuries of history sitting in a research lab.¹
The oldest individual passed away around 1216, while the most recent death occurred in 1797.
But here’s what makes this discovery absolutely incredible – the burial masks were so expertly crafted that the dead bodies looked like living people.
Ancient Colombian artisans used clay, plant-based resins, and precious metals to create funeral coverings that preserved not just the bodies, but the illusion of life itself.
The breakthrough that changed everything
The British research team pulled off something that sounds impossible.
They used advanced imaging technology to digitally peel away the burial masks without touching the actual mummies.
Think of it as performing surgery with computers instead of scalpels.
CT scanning technology combined with chemical analysis and genetic testing allowed the scientists to see right through the ancient coverings.
What they found underneath surprised everyone involved in the project.
Jessica Liu, one of the lead researchers, expected to find similar-looking people from the same community.
Instead, she discovered four individuals with completely different head shapes and skull structures.²
That tells us these weren’t just local villagers – these mummies represent different groups, different social classes, and different time periods across Colombian history.
What this means for American history
Here’s what really gets me fired up about this discovery.
We’re constantly told that sophisticated civilization only existed in Europe and Asia before 1492.
These Colombian burial masks prove that narrative is complete nonsense.
The level of technical skill required to create these funeral coverings rivals anything being produced anywhere else in the world at the time.
Felipe Cárdenas-Arroyo, a historian with Colombia’s national academy, called the ancient craftsmanship extraordinary – and he’s absolutely right.³
These masks are completely unique to Colombia, meaning this wasn’t some technique borrowed from other civilizations.
Ancient Colombians developed this advanced preservation method entirely on their own.
The researchers presented their findings at an international mummy conference in Peru and donated replica reconstructions to Colombia’s national museum.
But think about what this really means.
The bigger picture that nobody wants to talk about
The earliest of these individuals died in 1216 – that’s more than 275 years before Columbus was even born.
Yet these ancient Americans had mastered preservation techniques so advanced that we needed 21st-century medical technology just to figure out how they did it.
These people knew exactly how a human face was put together – every curve, every angle, every detail that makes someone look alive.
And the chemistry? They figured out how to keep a body looking fresh for longer than most civilizations have even existed.
They possessed artistic skills that made the dead appear alive.
And they did all of this while European civilization was still struggling through the Dark Ages.
The timing here isn’t coincidental.
While Europe was dealing with plague, warfare, and general chaos during the medieval period, ancient Colombians were perfecting advanced mortuary science.
These four reconstructed faces represent just a tiny glimpse into civilizations that were far more sophisticated than most textbooks admit.
https://twitter.com/Archaeology_Mag/status/1976731067358101935
¹ Liverpool John Moores University, Press Release, August 2025.
² Andrea Margolis, "Faces of ancient mummies, hidden for centuries, finally revealed through digital reconstructions," Fox News, October 10, 2025.
³ Ibid.
