Posted on 03/21/2011 11:54:11 AM PDT by Red Badger
"Wet Mummy" Face
Photograph from Fame Pictures/Barcroft
With eyebrows, hair, and skin still intact after more than 600 years, a remarkably preserved Chinese "wet mummy" remains bundled in her quilt after centuries in a flooded coffin.
Removed from her wooden casket on March 1, the body had been found in a tomb accidentally uncovered by roadbuilders near the city of Taizhou (map).
"Wet mummies survive so well because of the anaerobic conditions of their burials," said archaeologist Victor Mair. That is, water unusually void of oxygen inhibits bacteria that would normally break down a body.
Unlike ancient Egyptian mummies, the corpselikely from the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644)was probably preserved only accidentally, said Mair, of the University of Pennsylvania.
"I don't know of any evidence that Chinese ever intentionally mummified their deceased," he said. "Whoever happened to encounter the right environment might become a preserved corpse."
More pics at link............
Where’s Bill???
Out of frame.
Looks better than Helen Thomas.
The pictures are absolutely amazing. One picture still has a jade (?) ring on his/her finger that almost shines a brilliant green. Thanks for posting.
Looks better than Helen Thomas.
************************
The real horror in this thought is that it is true.
Or even better than Pelosi.
That’s because it’s younger.
If this happened in the US, the roadbuilding would come to a screeching halt.
One of them is now at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.
They thought they were a husband and wife named Ellenbogen who died in the big yellow fever epidemic in Philly, but nobody by that name died there (or even lived there) around that time. And it looks like the lady is a good deal younger than anybody thought (and much younger than the man).
Apparently they're going to CAT scan them and try to find out more.
Or even better than Pelosi.
************************
This poor Chinese lady had a superior mortician than the revenant Nancy Pelosi.
A worker from the Taizhou Museum cleans the Chinese wet mummy's large jade ring on March 3. Jade was associated with longevity in ancient China. But in this case, the jade ring was "probably a sign of her wealth instead of a sign of any concern about the afterlife," Brook said.
LOL!
Do you think the burial clothes and ring suggests some sort of local nobility?
There has to be a joke somewhere in this about a “mood ring”.
Very interesting...thank you.
Now that’s there’s funny! I don’t care who you are!
No. In the article, they speculate that she was probably just a well-off person, but not royalty..........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.