10-th October in Henan Province (Central China), was found a mummy. The burial founded by local workers on a two-meter depth of one of the construction sites. Baffled Chinese archaeologists are studying a 300 year-old coffin found with two others in which two of the bodies had been reduced to skeletons.
Experts baffled by perfectly preserved bodies that turned black just hours after its coffin was opened and exudes and a foul smell began to emanate from mummy's body. The skin on the corpse has been taken immediately to the local university for study. Dr Lukas Nickel, a specialist in Chinese art and archaeology, University of London, told that preservations such as these were not intentional.
Interesting fact! The Chinese did not do any treatment of the body to preserve it unlike from ancient Egypt, for instance. However, in order to protect the body from the external factors. They tried to put it into massive coffins and stable tomb chambers. In this case, the body may have had a lacquered coffin, covered in charcoal - which was common at the time. This means bacteria would have been unable to get in.
Scientists have discovered, the clothes on the body indicate he was a very senior official from the early Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1912. The mummy was wearing traditional Ming Dynasty costume and in the coffin were bones, ceramics, ancient writings and other relics.
Researchers hope the latest finding could help them better understand the Qing Dynasty's funeral rituals, traditions and customs, as well as more about how bodies were preserved.