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‘Housewife’ Mummy Returns to Its Coffin after 170 Years

The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
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‘Housewife’ Mummy Returns to Its Coffin after 170 Years

The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)

In 1815, an Egyptian mummy and three coffins were transferred from India to the British Museum. In 1968, curators at the British Museum scanned all the mummies of the Egyptian collection including the transferred mummy, which they thought it "belongs to a man." However, archeologists have long wondered what was a man's mummy doing with three coffins belonging to a woman known as the "Housewife." Until recently, the only provided explanation was that "the merchants, who sold the mummy and the three coffins to a British officer in the Mumbai Infantry, India, in 1846, collected these items from different sources to maximize their value – a common behavior among antiquities sellers in the 19th century."

However, a touring exhibition of six mummies organized by the British Museum reexamined this mummy, and managed to return it to its three coffins. While preparing for the exhibition, the curators found new evidence indicating that the mummy belongs to a woman. The findings will be announced in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Archeological Science. To confirm its identity, the scientists had to prove the mummy's connection to the three coffins. During the examination, they spotted a dry brown stain from the embalming residues in the bottom of the smallest coffin that contained the mummy. The linens wrapping the mummy revealed a similar stain on the lower part of the left shoulder matching the stain found in the coffin. Then, the researchers analyzed the residues to determine their composition, and whether it's the same in both stains.

A team of archeologists led by Marie Vandenbeusch from the Egypt and Sudan Department at the British Museum, said "the results show that the coffins belong to the controversial mummy," noting that the fluorescent embalming materials used in the genital organs area deceived the past CT scan which falsely indicated the mummy belongs to a man." The dual energy CT scan used in this study managed to define the gender of the mummy, and revealed that the woman died at the age 35-49, and suffered from a spinal injury."

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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA

The excavation of a large Viking-era burial site in Denmark has unearthed 50 unusually well-preserved skeletons that archaeologists expect will help shed light on the lives of the Nordic people best known for their seafaring exploits in the Middle Ages.

The skeletons, discovered near Denmark's third-largest city Odense, were kept intact by high water levels and favorable soil conditions that prevented them from decomposing, according to Michael Borre Lundoe, the excavation leader from Museum Odense, Reuters reported.

"Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods. But here we have the skeletons fully preserved," said Lundoe.

"The skeletons are so amazing. They are so well preserved. There are five fingers, five toes. And that opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries," he said.

Rare artifacts such as knives, glass pearls and brooches dated between year 850 to 970 were also found at the excavation, which began six months ago.

Lundoe said the grave gifts indicate most of the people were part of a small community of farmers, although a woman of higher status was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a piece of glass which was rare in the Viking Age.

Archaeologists took soil samples to search for pollen to determine which season the person was buried in and what textiles they wore.

An x-ray of a soil block from the site revealed an oval brooch, an iconic Viking Age jewelry piece associated with women's garments, covered with wood and human remains.

On the back of another brooch with period-specific ornaments, mineralized woven textile fragments provided evidence of the type of dress worn in the Viking Age, the archaeologists said.

Most of the skeletons have been removed from the graves and packed in cardboard boxes at the museum to dry out before the examination and final cleaning.