In
the last year, five mummies dating from the 6th-7th Century AD have been
found at Zelyony Yar near Selekhard, Russia. This site is unique,
according to one of the archaeologists on the excavation team, who went on
to say (as quoted by Pravda), "There is no other place in the world
where there are so many mummified remains of ancient people found outside
permafrost and marshes. It is the most ancient burial ground ever known to
science." This is a rather broad statement, however, that should not
be accepted at face value.
Four mummies wearing fur
clothes and boots and buried in wooden coffins were discovered recently.
Scientists are not certain how the bodies became mummified at this point.
Last year, the body of a
girl--nicknamed Evine by archaeologists-- was discovered. After a year's
study by a team of scientists from the Moscow Biomedical Technologies
Institute, her body is now ready for exhibit (though where that will take
place has not been announced). The scientists concluded that her body
became mummified because it had been packed in elm and Spaghnum moss (the
latter is responsible for the accidental mummification of bog bodies). No
moss was packed around the four recent finds.
