Russian archaeologists have uncovered the mummified remains of a 2,000 - yr - old woman along the shoreline of a Siberian reservoir . The remains , who research worker trust was aHun , were dressed in silk and wore a beaded belt with a gemstone warp at the time of her burial .
Archaeologists with St. Petersburg ’s Institute of History of Material Culture were working along the shoreline of the Yenisei River Reservoir when they saw a pile of stones that resemble a burial land site . Dubbed by various medium vent as a “ sleep beauty ” , the clay were likely not on purpose mummified .
“ This is not a classic mummy , ” archaeologist Dr Marina Kilunovskaya toldThe Siberian Times . “ In this case , the burial was tightly closed with a pit lid , enabling a process of natural mummification . ”
Nature does a somewhat proficient job of mummify organic matter when the conditions are just right . object lesson can be found all over the world , fromOtzi the Icemanin the Italian Alps to northern Chile’sChinchorro cadavers . According to theNew York Times , bodies leave in hot , dry climates mummify in about two weeks . Enclosed environs take as long as three months .
When a person die , their body starts to decompose as digestive enzyme break down mobile phone . Most of the time , these enzyme work in an sedimentary environs . If fluids are removed , the disintegration process slows down . In the event of natural mummification , the torso is placed in an environment that forces it to lose water more rapidly than the enzymes can deconstruct the consistence , peculiarly in crypts where ventilation – or deficiency therefrom – keep them ironic .
Other ingredient , such as the presence of with child metals , fungus , bacterium , and even clothes , can play a function in the mummification process . Different parts of the body decay at different rate , which could explicate why the lower half of her body is more entire than her upper soundbox .
“ The mummy was in quite a good condition , with delicate tissue , skin , clothing and holding intact , ” one of the research worker separate the publication . Perhaps more impressive than her born dry gangrene is the fact that the cadaver have been so well - carry on despite being buried under dam water supply since the 1980s .
Other items believed to be carried into the afterlife were also found in the tomb , including a “ funeral meal ” , a Taiwanese mirror in a birch - barque makeup traveling bag , a Hun - elan vase , and a sack of pine nuts aim on the woman ’s breast . researcher have not go out the remains in a lab , but speculate the woman was buried between 1,900 and 2,000 years ago .
[ H / T : The Siberian Times ]
