The mummy of Lady Dai is in such spectacular consideration she ’s sometimes called China ’s Sleeping Beauty . At over 2,100 years former , she might be take care good for her age , but scientific discipline have show that this noblewoman live on a munificent lifestyle that took a bell on her wellness .
The grave of Lady Dai , also known as Xin Zhui , was unintentionally discovered by construction workers in the 1960s in Mawangdui near Changsha , China . With the assistance of 100 of schooling kids , archaeologists dig up the site in the former 1970s and revealed three tombs dedicated to the house of Li Cang , the Marquis of Dai , anoblemanwho gasconade significant superpower in the westernHan dynasty(206 BCE – 9 CE ) .
Buried in a separate grave toLi Cangwas his wife Lady Dai who died in 163 BCE , as well as thousands of artifacts from the ancient Han dynasty , such as delicatesilk manuscripts , lacquered vessels , and herbal medicines made with cinnamon , magnolia bark , and peppercorns .
Time for my close up. Image credit: Gary Todd/Flickr/Public Domain
A third tomb hold the body of a immature man , perchance their Logos or Lady Dai ’s brother . peculiarly , however , the remain ofLi Cangand the young man had well and in truth succumbed to the forcefulness of time , unlike Lady Dai .
At around 2,100 years old , hermummyis in special condition . Her veins are still filled with congealed rip and most of her voiced tissues stay on integral . Her wrinkled consistency looks more like a tonic clay on a mortuary mesa than an ancient mummy from an ancient dynasty .
There are a number of clues as to how she ’s persist in such good figure over all these class . As perArchaeologyin 2009 , the body was found cocooned within the innermost of four lacquered coffins that were draped in a beautiful silk painting . copulate with this , her body was dressed in 18 layers of silk and linen clothing . Altogether , this shield her fabulously well from extraneous forces that could have deteriorated her earthly remains .
You gotta hand it to her, she looks great. Image credit: Gary Todd/Flickr/Public Domain
The coffin was also filled with a unusual clear liquid that plough brown after being expose to melodic line . Some simply believe this liquid is herbodily fluids , but others mistrust it might have been a traditional Taiwanese herbal root that perhaps help with the preservation unconscious process .
Chinese scientists yield the physical structure a detailed autopsythat revealedthis noblewoman was in pretty pitiful health . It looks like she died around 50 old age of age from aheart attackshortly after eating a meal . This was likely a result of her plush and lazy lifestyle , the investigator write , that left her very heavy and suffering from diabetes .
“ As judged from her richly furnished grave and the fact that she was a noblewoman with many retainer waiting on her , she credibly did not need to exert herself , ” one Chinese scientistwrote .
The study of her body also revealed her last repast . Within her esophagus and belly , they find over 100 musk melon seeds , which the researchers believe she “ gulped down … in a gravid hurriedness . ”
Today , the mummy of Lady Dai is housed at the Hunan Provincial Museum alongside glass jar containing her organs . It ’s often said that people inspect the body with the belief that this ancient woman holds some sort of secret to longevity . Looking at her stiff , it ’s easy to see why .
