Buzz
Every year, countless preserved human remains are discovered. Despite their abundance, the fascination with these desiccated bodies remains strong. The reasons are clear. Mummies often bear unusual markings and signs of disease. They also seem to arrange themselves in strange patterns, mimicking the behaviors of a living community.
Sometimes, only fragments of mummified remains are found. Even these isolated pieces can uncover strange customs related to love, death, and even living individuals who engage in peculiar rituals, such as kissing severed toes.
10. The Hun Warrior
In 1993, a young girl named Alena Kypchakova, aged 12, discovered a collapsed grotto near the Kam-Tytugem settlement in Siberia. Inside, she found the remains of a Hun warrior alongside his weapons.
Approximately 1,700 years ago, the man was laid to rest wrapped in fur on a wooden bed. Beside him was a bow, nearly as tall as a person today. Fragments of birch arrows showed they were marked in white or black, likely for easy identification during hunts. These arrows were originally equipped with iron tips and bull horn pieces.
Ancient Chinese texts suggest that the horn carvings on the arrows produced a whistling sound when shot, intended to frighten enemies and confuse deer. Despite efforts, researchers have been unable to replicate this effect.
The mummified archer is housed in a lesser-known museum in Kokorya, as locals resisted efforts by larger institutions to acquire him. The museum is now overseen by Alena Kypchakova, the same girl who discovered the remains as a child.
9. Pygmy Woolly Mammoth
The 'island effect' refers to the phenomenon where large species shrink in size to adapt to island environments. Woolly mammoths were among these species. However, there were rumors of naturally small mammoths, unrelated to island evolution. Reports emerged of bones from both adult and infant mammoths discovered on Kotelny Island in Siberia.
In 2018, researchers visited the island and uncovered the first official remains of such a mammoth. The unique specimen, with its yellow fur, was quickly dubbed the 'golden mammoth.' However, a major issue arose: the remains were located in an inaccessible area, making further study difficult until recovery is possible.
The surrounding permafrost helped date the remains to between 22,000 and 50,000 years ago. The mammoth, standing about 2 meters (6.6 ft) tall, appeared to be an adult. In contrast, standard mammoths reached heights of around 5 meters (16.4 ft). This discovery offered the first solid evidence of a dwarf mammoth species. Notably, Kotelny Island was connected to the mainland during that period, ruling out the 'island effect' as the cause of its small size.
8. Greenland Surprise
Discovering heart disease, particularly atherosclerosis, in mummies is not uncommon. However, when researchers brought five 16th-century Inuit mummies—four adults and one child—from Greenland for scanning, they anticipated healthy hearts.
Atherosclerosis, which narrows arteries, typically affects older individuals. Yet, these mummies were young adults and a child. The condition is often linked to diets high in cholesterol-rich foods like pork, beef, and dairy. In contrast, the Inuit diet consisted mainly of marine mammals and fish, the latter being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, known to support heart health.
The 2019 study conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston revealed atherosclerosis in three of the adult mummies during CT scans. This was unexpected given their age and diet. The mummies were remarkably well-preserved, with intact blood vessels, making the findings highly conclusive.
These cases mark the first evidence of atherosclerosis in Greenland mummies. While the cause remains unclear, one plausible explanation is prolonged exposure to smoke from indoor hearths.
7. Unique Thigh Tattoo
Recently, the British Museum acquired the mummified remains of a woman discovered in 2014 along the Nile River in northern Sudan. Upon closer examination, researchers identified a tattoo on her inner thigh.
To enhance the faded design, they used infrared imaging. The tattoo revealed a distinctive pattern formed by stacked ancient Greek letters, spelling 'Mixaha,' the name of the archangel Michael.
The monogram was not entirely unfamiliar, as it had been found on church artifacts and mosaics before. However, this marked the first instance of it appearing on a human body. The religious-themed tattoo may have served as a protective charm or reflected her deep personal faith.
The tattoo dates back approximately 1,300 years, making it the first body art discovered from that era. While not the oldest tattoo ever found, the Sudanese woman's symbol remains an exceptionally rare artifact.
6. Earliest European Autopsy
In 2013, researchers analyzed a chilling relic—a partial mummy consisting of shoulders, a neck, and a head. The man's facial expression was haunting, resembling a perpetual scream.
Initially believed to be preserved during the 1400s or 1500s, further analysis dated it to between AD 1200 and AD 1280. This makes it the oldest preserved human autopsy in Europe, coinciding with a period often regarded as a dark age for scientific progress.
Despite the era, the mummy was prepared with remarkable skill and advanced methods. The ancient physician combined lime, beeswax, and red cinnabar mercury, injecting the mixture into the veins to preserve the body and enhance the appearance of the circulatory system. The back of the skull and brain were also meticulously removed.
This discovery challenges the common belief that medieval human dissection was crude and careless. It suggests the individual may have been preserved for future medical education purposes.
5. Embalmed Human Hearts
While France is celebrated for its romance, the 16th and 17th centuries took this sentiment to an extreme. During this period, it was considered deeply romantic to be buried with the heart of one's spouse.
In 2015, a collection of mummified hearts was discovered beneath a convent. The Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes, which housed a large cemetery from the same period, revealed a lead coffin containing the remains of an elite woman who followed this eerie tradition.
Lady Louise de Quengo passed away in 1656. While her exceptional preservation was notable, the most intriguing find was a lead urn shaped like a Valentine's heart, containing her husband's actual heart.
Further exploration of elite burial sites uncovered four similar urns. The hearts were cleaned and scanned, providing researchers with detailed images of 400-year-old heart valves, chambers, and arteries. Among them, one heart was healthy, another too damaged to analyze, and the remaining three displayed signs of atherosclerosis.
4. The Mummified Hand
In the Hungarian village of Nyarlorinc, an ancient cemetery holds the remains of around 540 individuals buried between the 12th and 16th centuries. While reviewing old excavation photos, researchers stumbled upon the mummified hand of an infant.
Intrigued by why only one limb had mummified, they analyzed the remains and discovered extremely high levels of copper. Further investigation revealed the source: a copper coin found inside the baby's hand, which had also contributed to the preservation.
This uncovered a previously unknown mummification method, while also reflecting a known tradition. When a child died before baptism, they were buried in a jar with a coin to pay St. John the Baptist for performing the ceremony, ensuring the child's entry into Heaven.
The Nyarlorinc infant was indeed buried in a jar. Surprisingly, this tradition had never been documented in Hungary before. Adding to the mystery, the coin dated between 1858 and 1862, suggesting the baby was buried 150 years after the cemetery had been abandoned.
3. Club Dead
Rosalia isn't the sole attraction in the Capuchin Catacombs. Thousands of other bodies rest here, though less well-preserved. These mummies, part of what researchers call 'Club Dead,' were primarily elite individuals buried in their finest attire.
Eerily, none of the bodies were buried traditionally. Instead, they were posed or hung on walls, dressed in their best uniforms, ball gowns, or religious robes. The dead were organized by gender, age, and profession. In the professionals' hall, doctors and lawyers hung from hooks, while children were placed in cribs in the nursery.
Monks maintained this underground world, paid by families to change the deceased's clothes and keep them clean. Today, many mummies have deteriorated, but their eerie, doll-like attempts to appear alive remain striking. The 'Club Dead' collection is part of a larger mystery: Sicily once had a strong tradition of preserving loved ones through mummification, though the reasons remain unknown.
2. Double Mystery Solved
Rosalia Lombardo is one of the world's most renowned mummies. After pneumonia claimed her life at age two in 1920, her father hired Alfredo Salafia to preserve her. The embalming was so successful that Rosalia still looks as though she is merely sleeping.
She was laid to rest in the Capuchin Catacombs beneath Sicily's Capuchin Convent, alongside thousands of others. While most bodies were naturally dried by monks, Rosalia's flawless appearance was achieved through a secret embalming formula that remained a mystery for years. Her lifelike presence, including the eerie illusion of her eyes opening and closing, has fascinated and unsettled visitors.
In 2009, anthropologists solved both mysteries. A handwritten manuscript by Salafia was discovered, detailing his embalming recipe. He used a mixture of glycerin, formalin, zinc sulfate, chloride, and a blend of alcohol and salicylic acid, which he injected into Rosalia.
The unsettling eye movement is an optical illusion. Rosalia was mummified with her eyes slightly open. Natural light from nearby windows illuminates her blue eyes, but as shadows shift throughout the day, it creates the illusion that her eyelids are closing.
1. Human Toe Cocktail
Bars are famous for their inventive drinks, but one cocktail stands out as truly unique. To try the sourtoe cocktail, you’ll need to head to Canada’s Yukon territory and visit the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City.
Order this drink, and the bartender will pour a spirit (usually whiskey) into a glass. The final touch? A mummified human toe is dropped into the mix.
There’s one rule: your lips must make contact with the toe. Once you do, the saloon awards you a certificate. To date, over 100,000 people have claimed their certificates.
The cocktail’s origin story is equally bizarre. It began in 1973 when an entrepreneur stumbled upon the frostbitten toe of a rum smuggler. The toe had been preserved in the smuggler’s cabin since the 1920s, making it roughly 50 years old when discovered.
The entrepreneur introduced the drink as a challenge for people to prove their mettle as true Yukoners. The original toe was accidentally swallowed in 1980, but it has since been replaced by several other frostbitten toes.
