Archaeologists
from Sheffield University recently uncovered the mummified remains of two
people, a man and a woman, which appear to provide evidence that at least
some early Europeans may have mummified their dead.
The bodies (mostly
skeletonized it appears, according to reports; the remains are not
described in any type of detail) were discovered under the floor of a
house built on the western coast of the
island of South Uist (Hebrides Islands, Scotland, UK). Tests
indicated that the two had died about 200 years apart: the man died
approximately 3500 years ago, while the woman died about 3300 years
ago.
Scientific tests conducted
on the remains suggested to the archaeologists that the bodies had been
placed in a peat bog for a period of time (somewhere between 6 and 18
months). This served to preserve the bodies. They were then removed from
the bog and kept above ground for a considerable time before being buried
beneath the floor of the house (known as Cladh Hallan).
Scientists are convinced
that intentional mummification was involved for three reasons: 1) the
bodies were anatomically correct when reburied; this must mean (the
scientists reason) that the bodies were preserved when reburied; 2) the
skin had become demineralized (which indicates they had been placed in a
bog); and 3) bacteria had not eaten away at the bodies or their bones
(again, a sign that the bodies had been in a bog). [NOTE: Of course, it
could be that the two people had been buried in a bog or recovered from a
bog--without anyone intending to create mummies. Without further
information, this conclusion seems difficult to believe.]
According to Mike Parker
Pearson, head of the excavation, the discovery "suggests that
ancestors were even more central to ancient British belief systems than we
had previously thought. We had never expected to find evidence for
mummification in prehistoric Europe. This find is therefore a complete
revelation."
A documentary of this
discovery was shown in the UK on BBC (18 March 2003).
