London - After 700 years at rest, her work is just beginning.
This perfectly preserved mummy, found in China, will provide scientists with precious ancient secrets about life in the Ming Dynasty.
They expected to find nothing but a heap of bones and some artefacts when they opened the coffin which was stumbled on by workers digging six feet down by the side of a road.
Instead, the woman, thought to have been of noble birth, was a gift from the past.
It is thought a brown liquid inside the coffins has preserved everything from her eyebrows, to her silken robes and shoes to the jewelled ring on her finger. The mummifying process used is thought to have been reserved only for very important funerals.
Archaelogists in the city of Taizhou, in the Jiangsu Province, on China’s eastern coast, are thought to have opened the coffin as recently as Tuesday.
These astonishing photographs show the amazing condition of the 5ft woman laid to rest inside. Experts will have months of work ahead to understand all she offers about the past.
What is known is that she was of high ranking during the Ming Dynasty (the ruling power in China between 1368 and 1644). Two other wooden coffins were found alongside her. The area where she was found is providing a treasure trove of history. Between 1979 and 2008 five mummies have been unearthed, all in very good condition. - Daily Mail