Particularly good state of preservation

Qilakitsoq is an old Inuit settlement on the Nuussuaq peninsula on the west coast of Greenland around 450 km north of the Arctic Circle.

In 1972 two brothers on a grouse hunt found a number of approximately 500-year-old mummies in the same grave underneath an outcrop of rock.

Owing to a combination of the particular location on a north-facing slope, the dry air and the low temperatures, the mummified remains were in a particularly good state of preservation. This enabled a successful excavation.

There were six women and two children, including a six month old baby boy, all of whom were fully dressed. The discovery of the remains brought with it a lot of new knowledge concerning the Inuit way of life and their clothing.
The eight bodies were equipped for a long journey into life after death, since according to beliefs at the time, it was considered necessary to be prepared for hunting even after death.