A migrant worker in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, was working on a construction site in the cold winter when he discovered an ancient tomb. After the experts came to check, they found that although the woman in the tomb had been buried for thousands of years, her eyebrow bones were clear, her hair was black and shiny, and her skin was elastic.
This discovery made the archaeological community boil, and everyone wondered why this Ming Dynasty female corpse could remain incorruptible for thousands of years after her death? Did someone cast a curse, or was there some magical object that kept the body from rotting?
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Workers in Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, who were working on the Chunlan Road section, suddenly encountered an excavator failure, and in order not to delay the construction period, they picked up shovels and began to dig manually. After a few digs, a sunken black hole suddenly appeared in the ground.
The workers were stunned and didn't know what was hidden in the black hole. A daring worker approached the black hole to inspect it and was surprised to find that it was actually an ancient tomb.
The discovery made everyone present turn pale with fright, and after discussion, they immediately contacted the local archaeological team.
Archaeologists immediately arrived at the site and began conservation surveys and preliminary excavations. During the excavation, they found a log wrapped in silk fabric, and the experts were excited.
As they dug deeper, they found more silk fabrics, making everyone wonder if there was really an ancient tomb hidden here. This news made the atmosphere at the scene warm.
However, it didn't take long for them to find a coffin that had been badly damaged by an excavator, and the archaeological value was greatly reduced. When archaeologists opened the coffin, they found only one skeleton and no valuable funerary goods.
Just as the archaeologists were about to finish their day's work, an unexpected piece of news came from the other side.
After careful excavation by the archaeological team, another ancient tomb was pleasantly discovered three meters away from the previously discovered ancient tomb. In order to ensure that the archaeological work was foolproof, the experts did not dare to be careless, and every step was carried out carefully.
When the excavator slowly removed the dirt from the top of the coffin, it found two coffins, which made everyone very excited. What is even more gratifying is that due to the large amount of earth covering the top of the two coffins, which plays an excellent protective role, coupled with the careful excavation of the archaeological team, the two coffins have hardly been damaged, especially the one on the left, which is almost intact.
Archaeologists found two almost intact coffins in an ancient tomb, and their hearts beat faster. If these two coffins can unearth antiquities with research value, it will be a major breakthrough for the archaeological community.
Surprisingly, the two coffins were only a dozen centimeters apart and were buried side by side in the same place. From the spacing between the coffins, we can infer that this is a joint tomb of husband and wife.
At the excavation site, in addition to the coffin, there are several clay pots of Ming Dynasty officials. After identification, experts determined that this ancient tomb was a Ming Dynasty grout tomb. However, the epitaph, which best attests to the identity of the tomb's owner, has disappeared without a trace in the surrounding dirt.
In the cemetery where the coffins of the three people are side by side, who is buried? Why are there tombs without epitaphs? Which Ming Dynasty dignitary family's burial place is it? These questions aroused the curiosity of the archaeologists, who immediately began to open the coffin.
Armed with shovels, the experts are about to uncover the lid of the second coffin. Although the pouring layer of this coffin has fallen off quite a bit, it is still relatively intact. Therefore, all the archaeological team members have high hopes for it, hoping to find some valuable burial goods from it.
However, as the lid of the coffin was gradually removed, all that appeared in front of everyone was the wooden pillow and the remaining bones. This result again disappointed the experts.
According to the specifications of the tomb, the owner of the tomb should have more burial goods. The three coffins all adopted the form of a grout tomb, which was a tomb system that only the rich and noble could afford in the Ming Dynasty, because the production process of this tomb system was complicated, and it was necessary to wrap materials such as coarse sand, lime and glutinous rice syrup around the coffin, stir it into "glue", and then it could be cast after layers of ramming.
Ordinary people simply cannot afford such expenses. Surprisingly, however, no valuable burial goods have been found in either coffin so far, which is confusing.
Could it be that the two coffins had been looted by tomb robbers before the archaeological team excavated them? Or could it be just an ordinary tomb with nothing special?
With anticipation and nervousness, the archaeological team members once again focused on the third coffin. This coffin is the most well-preserved, so there is a lot of anticipation for its research.
Despite the fact that the outer grout layer is very thick and the coffin is best preserved, the experts decided to use a cutting saw to minimize the damage that could be caused to the coffin when removing the grout layer.
With the aid of a cutting saw, the grout layer has been completely removed, and finally the time has come to open the coffin.
The construction of the lid was surprising, with a mortise and tenon structure reinforced with iron nails, which posed a great challenge to the opening of the coffin, and the staff took great pains to open it. What's even more amazing is that after opening it, it was found that there was still a coffin lid.
Fortunately, the inner lid is well preserved, with hardly any signs of corrosion, and if it contains burial goods of research value, it will be in excellent condition.
This discovery rekindled the flame of hope for the archaeological team.
In an instant, the lid of the coffin was opened, and the amazing scene stunned everyone present. The corpse was lying in this cold wooden coffin, the usual corpse was not unusual, but this corpse was smooth, with clear eyebrows and eyes, as if he had just fallen asleep.
This made all the archaeological team members excited, and then the staff gently touched the corpse's ** with their fingers, and amazingly, it was still elastic. This even exceeds the state of preservation of Mrs. Xin Chai in the ** soil of the Mawangdui Han Tomb.
So the question is, the coffin in front of me is not coated with green plaster mud, and the burial depth is only more than two meters, but why has it not decayed after hundreds of years? Let's find out.
In order to solve the mystery of the incorruptibility of the corpse, experts conducted an in-depth study of the yellow-brown liquid inside the coffin. The results showed that the liquid was similar in composition to the liquid found in Mrs. Xinchai's coffin, as we would in modern terms***
In addition, the tomb is in the form of a grout tomb, which is extremely tightly made, so that the surface moisture needs to be filtered through multiple layers during the infiltration process. The filtered water is virtually free of bacteria, which is why the corpses are so well preserved; According to experts, it was a female corpse.
However, what is puzzling is that in the same location and using the form of a grout tomb, why is there only a third coffin** of an incorruptible female corpse? Experts speculate that this may be due to the difference in the timing of burial.
In order to verify the accuracy of the speculation, the archaeological team focused on the identity of the tomb owner. However, due to the lack of epitaphs, the only way to determine the identity of the tomb owner is to start with the corpse of an incorruptible woman.
Due to the high research value of the incorruptible female corpse, in order to protect this artifact, the experts moved the body back to the laboratory and refrigerated it. In order to unravel the mystery of the identity of the incorruptible female corpse, experts began to gradually strip off its clothes.
Everyone was stunned when the hat was carefully removed, the female corpse's hair was still black and shiny, and her hair was still in a bun. Based on this, experts judged that the female corpse may still be young.
Next, the archaeological team members began to carefully remove the clothing from the female corpse, which was not an easy process, as the clothing had already been glued to the corpse and needed to be handled with extra care.
Under the careful peeling of archaeologists, a surprising discovery under the first layer of clothing on the body of a deceased woman, a yellow paper money came into view. Experts confirm that this is the Yin money of the Ming Dynasty, which means that the deceased can enjoy wealth when they enter another world.
Peeling back to the second layer of clothing, a yellow piece of paper money was also found, for a total of eight sheets.
After more than three hours of hard work, the staff successfully stripped all the clothes off the body of the incorruptible woman, totaling more than 20 pieces. When the clothes were completely removed, experts found a ring set with emeralds on his hand.
The ring is shiny, intact and has been identified as being of great value. This leads us to speculate that the family of the incorruptible female corpse was extremely wealthy during her lifetime, and it is likely that she came from a prominent family.
Experts speculate that she may be a gentle woman from a famous family.
Although we have not yet identified the woman, the clothes, rings, and eight pieces of folk paper money on the woman's body provide valuable clues to the customs and habits of the Ming Dynasty.
We look forward to the development of technology to unravel the mystery of the identity of this incorruptible female corpse. Thank you for reading and supporting, and if you have anything you want to discuss, please leave a message in the comment area.
See you next time!