Fawn Hoof Mummy

 

 

In September of 1811 a tomb for a woman was found inside Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. She was found in a little crypt with a big stone as a roof. She was in a sitting position with two decorated deer skins, and a woven woolen blanket. Her red hair was cut short, and her teeth and nails were pristine. She was 6 ft tall which was unusual for the time. There was evidence of makeup on her lips. She had a necklace made of young deer hooves, giving her the name "Fawn Hoof Mummy". She had many dressing ornaments and utensils in her tomb. She must have been cared for.

Some say that she was mummified purposely and similarly to how the Egyptians did it. It's possible that she wasn't and that it was done naturally due to the cave and the deer skins she was wrapped in. It's unknown now as her body has been lost. 

After her body was found at the time like many other historical remains it was treated as property. She had gone through many hands. The last time it was seen was shortly after the Smithsonian photographed it. Some believe that the Smithsonian still has her remains, but they were disassembled and stored.

SOURCES:
Little House of Horrors
Ancient Code

Curiosmos 
Mummipedia

Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl

 

In 1994 Coastal Erosion exposed the body of a little girl at Ukkuqsi in the old whaling village of Utqiagvik in Alaska. The little girl was between 5 to 8 years old and lived and died between 800 and 1200. She was a member of the Thule people. Her name was lost, but she is known now as Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl. 

The little girl was loved in life. She was chronically sick in her short life. It was found that she had lung damage due to emphysema, and a rare congenital disorder, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Though she was chronically sick her body and burial showed signs that she was well-loved. 

She had evidence in her lungs that she spent much of her life by fire and being cared for and chewing on leather trying to soften them. A little girl helping her family. She however only had clay, leather, and fur in her stomach. It's not believed that she was intentionally starved, but that she and her clan were starving at the time of her death.

With a mixture of her illness and starvation, the girl would pass away. She would be laid to rest carefully. She was buried with a small toboggan made of whale bone likely used to help move her and wrapped in her fur parka. She was then buried in a cold cellar. 

After her scientific look at her body, she was then laid to rest by the Inuit people in Barrow, Alaska. 

SOURCES:

Jstor

Mummipedia

Seattle Times October 1995

The Incan Woman

 

Panzer et. al, PLOS ONE 2014

Allegedly, in the 1890s, during her trip to South America Princess Therese of Bavaria received two mummies. It's unknown what had happened to one of the mummies, but the other was that of an Incan woman. Parts of the legs of the woman were destroyed during WWII, but still remain well intact other than her missing legs.  She was donated to the Anatomical Institute of the Ludwig-Maximilian University in 1904. 

It was initially thought that she was a European bog body at first. After an Analysis of her hair though it showed that she was from South American Origins. This made sense because the braided style of her hair was not common in Europe. The bands holding her hair together were made from alpaca or llama hair and had a high diet of seafood and maize. This likely means she is from near the coastline of Peru or Chile, but there was a change in diet the 10 months before her death. She either changed her diet or moved from the area where she lived. She was likely buried in the dry sands of the Atacama Desert to preserve her body. 

It's believed that she was a pre-Columbian Incan woman.  She was between the ages of 20 to 25-years-old. 

A CT scan of the woman shows that she was murdered. It is unknown if she was a sacrifice or not, but it was likely.  She had been killed by being hit with a sharp object several times to the front of her skull. The skull bones were found in her brain cavity. However, even if she wasn't killed she was dying from Chagas disease caused from parasites. 

SOURCES:

National Library of Medicine

Archeology

Mummipedia

Sarita

 

In September of 1996, the body of a teenage girl was found on the East face atop the 18,070 ft Andean peak in Sara Sara, Peru. She was discovered by Johan Reinhard, a senior researcher at Mountain Institute in West Virginia, and José Antonio Chavez, dean of archaeology at the Catholic University in Arequipa, Peru. It was found that the girl was a sacrifice 500 years ago for the Inca Gods including the sun moon and mountain. There was evidence that Sarita had been killed with a blow to the head. 

Sarita was a teenage girl around 14-years-old. She was slender and weighed 80 lbs at the time. She was healthy and her bones and teeth were strong. She had a well-balanced diet and had fasted the day before her death. 

She was found in the fetal position and placed on a platform along with three gold and silver statuettes and a small bundle of coca leaves, these were traditional offerings to the mountain gods. There were 7 more offerings with her, a seven-inch tall silver female statuette wrapped in textiles, one silver and gold male statuette, a female figurine, a llama carved out of spodylus shell, and on a nearby platform was one gold and one silver llama.

Because Sarita had been left on the sun-drenched east face of the mountain, her body had decomposed. Reinhard and his team moved the mummy to the snow-covered south face to freeze it before a 20-hour journey to the conservation laboratory at Catholic University, where Sarita will be preserved and eventually unwrapped.

SOURCES:
Archeology

PNAS

Crystal Links

The Clonycavan Man

 

In March of 2003, a body was found in a bog by peat cutters in Clonycavan, County Meath, Ireland . The body belonged to a man between 24 to 40 (believed to be in his 20's) who died between 392 BC to 201 BC. He was 5'2", and had crooked teeth. He had long and styled hair. The front of his hair was shaven, giving him a higher hairline, and the remainder was several inches long which was folded forward and then back, and sported a goatee and mustache. There was hair oil in his hair that consisted of plant oil and pine resins found in France or Spain. He had a rich diet consisting of vegetables, fruits, and protein.

It's believed that he may have been a king that was sacrificed after a bad harvest or another disaster.  His death may have been done to please the goddess of fertility. He was likely killed during the warmer months of the year which was indicated by his diet.

He was killed from a blow to the head with a sharp instrument, possibly an axe, and then was hit in the nose, chest, and was disemboweled. His nipples were may have been sliced off or were missing due to decomposition. If his nipples were sliced off, that would possibly mean that he failed kingship or a failed candidate for kingship.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia Wiki

BBC News Jan. 7, 2006

Archeology

Bog Bodies: The Frær Mose Woman

 The Frær Mose Woman was found four feet beneath a Denmark bog in 1842. Only her foot, a well-preserved wool garment, and a shoe were found. It's not stated whether or not this was a recent death or historical at the time of discovery. There is no time window stated for when she lived and died. 

SOURCES: 

Mummipedia 

Wikipedia

Academic

Liqui Search

The Yingpan Man

 

The Yingpan Man is a mummy that was found in the Tarim Basin in China. He was 6'6" tall and had brown hair in a top bun. It's likely he was caucasian in his mid to late '30s. He had died in the 4th or 5th century, and his cause of death is either unknown or unstated. 

The Yingpan Man was found with a white mask on his face with a golden diadem across the upper forehead. He was wearing clothing that was a red, deep purple, and gold color. They had a pair of embroidered pants, decorative footwear, robe, and a belt woolen caftan. Everything was greatly detailed, and a miniature set was placed on his chest. Likely so he'd have something to change into in his next life. His clothing indicated that he had great wealth. 

With his clothing, when he died and the area he was buried it leads to the belief he was a wealthy tradesman on the Silk Road. His clothing is an example of what would have been woven in the Eastern Roman Empire and traded with the Tarim Basin and died far from his homeland. 

SOURCES:

Mummipedia Wiki

Archeology

History and Archeology Online

Mummy 1770

 

There was an Egyptian Mummylabled Mummy 1770 that was in storage for a long time at the Manchester Museum before an autopsy was decided on it in 1975. The team wanted to do an autopsy that allowed visual and anatomical techniques to provide a baseline for advanced imaging and analytical methods in the future. Mummy 1770 was chosen for this because she was badly preserved and was unlikely to be displayed. An x-ray of the mummy showed that she had some unusual features which not only would help their research, but help them understand the mummy inside the sarcophagus.  

The girl inside was around 13 or 14-years-old and wise likely from a wealthy family . She has a male guinea worm in her abdomen. She had both her legs removes. One was removed above the knee the other under the knee. This treatment was unsuccessful as it seemed she died weeks after the amputation.

Her legs were replaced with wooden planks and her feet were sandals filled with reeds and mud, and had reed tips for toes. She had two gilded nipple amulets as well as a false phallus included in the wrapping.  Her fingertips and reed tips had gold coverings.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Manchester 1824

Mummipedia

The Weerding Men

 

In 1904 two bog bodies were found in Drenthe, Netherlands in the southern part of Bourtange Moor. The two were laid together in the bog initially making people think they were a couple and or related. This would lead to one of the bodies (the smaller one) being thought of being a woman. Leading for them to be called the Weerding Couple, or Mr. and Mrs. Veenstra. Later DNA tests showed that they were both males and were not Maternally related. 

The Weerding Men likely died between 160 BC and 220 AD. One of the men (the better preserved one) was found with a large wound in his chest with his intestines spilled out. It may have been ritualistic and may have been in an attempt to divine the future by reading entrails. It's unknown if this was the way he died or was killed. It's unknown how the other man died. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

The Dröbnitz Girl

 

In 1939 the body of a girl was found in a bog in Dröbnitzer Moor, Dröbnitz (Drwęck) Poland. In an attempt to recover the mummy both of her legs were removed at the hips and were left in the bog. The mummy was well preserved and with x-rays, it was determined all internal organs were recognizable and extremities were well preserved.

The body would be dubbed The Dröbnitz Girl and was between 12 to 14-years-old when she died. She likely lived and died in the iron age during the Hallstatt period around 650 BCE. She was wrapped in a large sheepskin cloak with her arms crossed over her chest. A wooden comb and a crest were found with her body. It's believed that this was a ritual funeral instead of sacrificial.

The body was destroyed or lost during WWII so further research could not be done. There is some information though. Samples of the bog suggest when the body was placed in a shallow pond that silted up and became a peat pond. Her stomach contents had the presence of leaves, flowers, residues of peas, wheat, meat fibers, and animal fats. High amounts of pollen were also discovered leading them to believe she may have been buried in the spring. She had evidence of malnutrition, whipworm, roundworm, and their eggs in her stomach. Which at the time would not have been uncommon

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

The Elling Woman

  

In 1938 a bog body of a woman was found in Silkeborg, Denmark. The bog helped somewhat preserve the body and some clothing by the bog. The woman would be termed the Elling Woman. She was around 25-years-old and her sex was hard to identify at first because the front of the body didn't mummify as well as the back. She had died around 350–150 BCE.

Her death was believed to have been unnatural. She was either, executed, sacrificed, or murdered. She was hanged with a leather thong. The thong left a V-shaped ligature in her neck. No other injuries or such were linked to her death. After this, she was placed into the peat bog. 

The woman had an elaborate braid. A sheepskin cape was wrapped over her upper legs, and her legs and feet covered by a different sheepskin cape. She was also wearing a woven belt around her waist that had a sliding knot. 

Her identity and the reason for her death are now lost to history.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Archeology Magazine

STRANGE HISTORY: Sylvester the Mummy

 

Sylvester the Mummy is a nickname of a mummy displayed in the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle Washington. He was purchased in 1955 and showed off at the Seattle World Fair in 1962. Before that, though he was used as a traveling sideshow attraction.

Legend has it that two cowboys stumbled across the half-buried mummified body of a man in the Gila Bend Desert in Arizona in 1895. That he had died of a gunshot wound to the chest. That the body belonged to some unknown gunslinger. This, of course, is just a legend.

It was found that the act of Sylvester preservations wasn't done naturally. He was injected with arsenic-based embalming fluid right after death. This allowed the body to dry out and mummify. It's possible it was done so his body would be used as a sideshow attraction.

The gunshot wound that supposedly killed him was at some time actually drilled into him and paint was used as blood. At the same time, the one thing that was kind of true was that he was shot at one point. It wasn't his cause of death and he had been shot way before he had died, but his right cheek, body, lungs, and neck had shotgun pellets. It was indicated his cause of death was tuberculosis.

It's still unknown who Sylvester was and why he was chosen to be part of a traveling attraction.


SOURCES:
Seattle Times
Mummipedia 
Smithsonian Channel
Strange Remains

Sacrifices: Children of Llullaillaco

On March 16, 1999, the three mummified remains of children were found on the summit of  Llullaillaco on the Andes mountains on the border between Chile and Argentina.Because their names are unknown the three mummies were called, The Maiden (la Doncella), Lightning Girl (la niña del Rayo) and Llullaillaco Boy (el niño). The three were sacrifices for the Incas in the 1500s. The sacrifice was called Capacocha which typically involved the sacrificing of children. They were likely chosen because they were considered beautiful, unblemished, and talented.

The Maiden was around the age of  13 to 15-years-old. When she was found she wore a dress, and her hair was braided and she wore a feathered horned headdress. At the time she had a bacterial infection in her lungs.

It's believed that she was an aclla or a Sun Virgin or Chosen Woman. In the Inca Empire, the aclla may have been an adopted this tradition from earlier cultures. Each year girls not of noble birth between the ages of 8 to 12 were gathered as tributes for the state. They were typically chosen for their beauty and talents. These girls would then be raised in convents. These girls had taken a vow of chastity as the priestesses who raised them called Mamakuna, for preparation of their future roles. These girls would either be sacrificed, become Mamakuna's or sometimes became imperial concubines or wives of the noble. Unfortunately, in this situation, The Maiden became a sacrifice.

The Lightning girl was found to be the half-sister of The Maiden. She was likely around 4 to 7-years-old.  These two were not related to Llullaillaco Boy though. She was m She isn't believed to be an aclla as she did not have the same care as her older sister. Even though it showed that she had possibly been chosen for sacrifice around a year before. She did not have elaborate braids or a headdress. She did have an elongated skull. She had her head lifted high and facing toward the South-West. She was wearing a traditional light brown acsu dress and her head and body were wrapped in a wool blanket and then her body was wrapped with another that was a red and yellow embroidered.

The Llullaillaco Boy was likely around 4 to 7 -years-old had blood on his cloak, a nit infestation in his hair, and also had evidence of an elongated skull. He was the only one tied up. He was wrapped so tightly that his ribs and pelvis were dislocated. He may have been bound due to reluctance to being sacrificed. He was wearing a grey tunic, a silver bracelet, leather shoes, and was wrapped in a brown and red blanket.

For around a year all three had been taken from a village and may have lived in poverty as an analysis of their hair showed they had a diet of potatoes before. The Maiden showed that she had been fed better in the two years before her sacrifice. The other two were likely chosen within their last year. It was shown that they had ingested coca leaves (which makes cocaine) and alcohol.  Their ingestion of coca and alcohol was likely to induce altered states associated with the sacred.

It was shown that the Maiden's use of coca was high in the last year, and then there was a surge in her alcohol consumption the weeks leading up to her death. It's possible that the reason for this was because she knew of her fate coming closer. The children's use was lower than hers.

On the day they were sacrificed all three had a high protein meal. The Maiden was found to have chewed Coca leaves in her mouth and may have made her Docile and maybe end unconscious likely why she was found in a resting position. The other two did consume alcohol and coca, but not as much as The Maiden. They may still have been somewhat docile like her.

 It's believed that when the three got to the top of the mountain they were allowed to fall asleep. They were either put in the small tomb 1.5 meters underground and left to die. It's possible that The Boy was lying in a fetal position and likely died from suffocation instead of exposure like the other two. And unlike other Capacocha victims, they seemed to have died peacefully.


SOURCES:
Wikipedia
National Geographic
NBC News
Live Science 
Andes Specialists
Julia's Travels
Britannica (Chosen Women)

Murder of Ginger (Gebelein Man)

There were 6 bodies found in the Gebelein, Egypt dating around 3400 BC. They were excavated in the late 1800s by Wallis Budge. At this time that mummification Egypt is known for wasn't developed. The mummies were naturally mummified by being placed in a shallow grave in direct contact with hot and dry sand that would absorb the body's liquids. They were in a curled, fetal position because that was common practice at the time. One of the more notable mummies in this excavation was the Gebelein Man or Ginger as he was a murder victim.

Ginger was around 18 to 21-years-old when he died. He had notable red hair that was preserved with his body and this gave him his nickname. After some infrared scans on the body, it was found that he had a tattoo of a figure that looked like a smudge without the scan. Which may have been the oldest preserved tattoo of figures.

Through analysis, it was determined that he had had been murdered. He had injuries that coincided with a deliberate assault. His shoulder blade was damaged and the rib underneath shattered likely from a stab wound. He was likely surprised by the attack as he had no defensive wounds. The weapon used was a copper or flint blade at least 5 inches long.

His body is currently at the British Museum in London, England.

SOURCES:
Mummipedia Wiki
News Week
British Museum
Egypt Orgins
Wikipedia

The Borremose Man

In 1946 peat diggers in the southern Borremose, Himmerland, Denmark found a body in the peat bog.  His body was found a half a meter below a layer of birch sticks. The body was well preserved and mummified due to the peat bog.

He was 1.55 m (5'1") and carbon dating done on the body showed he had lived during the Nordic Bronze Age around 700 BCE. He had two sheepskin coats and a woven cap beside him. His stomach contents had various seeds of different kinds knotweed, common spurrey, sheep's sorrel, lambsquarters and animal hair and peat moss leaves (these two likely being containments). It's likely he had been murdered. He had a 36 cm (14") rope with a slipknot around his throat. It was revealed with further examination of the body that he had a crushing blow to the back of his skull and his right femur had been broken.

SOURCES:
Mummipedia Wiki
Wikipedia
Tollund Man Den