Archeologists find remains of an underwater hospital and cemetery
University of Miami graduate student Devon Fogarty examines the headstone of John Greer who died while working at Fort Jefferson on Nov. 5, 1861. The gravesite is now completely underwater.
Archeologists at Dry Tortugas National Park have found remains of a 19th-century quarantine hospital and cemetery on a submerged island. The National Park Service said in a news release that records indicate dozens of people, mostly U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Jefferson, may have been buried there.
The small quarantine hospital was used to treat patients with yellow fever at the fort between 1890 and 1900, according to the NPS.
Major outbreaks of the disease killed dozens, but the quarantine hospital offered a place to isolate patients, likely saving hundreds of lives.
While most buried in the Fort Jefferson Post Cemetery were military members, several were also civilians.
During a survey of the area, researchers found John Greer’s grave, prominently marked with a large slab of greywacke carved into the shape of a headstone and inscribed with his name and date of death.
According to the NPS, Greer was employed as a laborer at the fort and died there on Nov. 5, 1861.
“This intriguing find highlights the potential for untold stories in Dry Tortugas National Park, both above and below the water,” project director Josh Marano said.
“Although much of the history of Fort Jefferson focuses on the fortification itself and some of its infamous prisoners, we are actively working to tell the stories of the enslaved people, women, children, and civilian laborers.”
Efforts to learn more about those buried in the cemetery are ongoing.
The three-dimensional depiction of the Mayan god K’awiil, uncovered during an archeological rescue dig on Section 7 of the Maya Train route. (INAH)
Archaeologists performing rescue work on section 7 of the Maya Train route have found a rare stone sculpture of the Mayan god K’awil, a deity linked to power, abundance, and prosperity.
The discovery was announced by Diego Prieto Hernández, general director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), during President López Obrador’s morning press conference.
The construction of the Maya Train has led to a surge of interest in Mayan archeology, as researchers turn up a wealth of buried artifacts. Here, an archeologist shows his finds in an area near Chichén Itzá.
“This finding is very important because there are few sculptural representations of the god K’awil; so far, we only know three in Tikal, Guatemala, and this is one of the first to appear in Mexican territory,” Prieto said.
He explained that the deity is more commonly seen represented in paintings, reliefs, and Mayan codices. This rare three-dimensional image was found on the head of an urn whose body shows the face of a different deity, possibly linked to the sun.
Prieto said AMLO had been shown the piece during a tour last weekend to inspect progress on section 7 of the Maya Train, which runs between Bacalar, Quintana Roo, and Escárcega, Campeche.
He added that archaeological rescue work is now concentrated on sections 6 and 7 of the train’s route, as work is now completed on sections 1 to 5, between Palenque, Chiapas, and Tulum.
National Institute of Anthropology and History Director Diego Prieto Hernandez (at podium) announced the find at the daily presidential press conference on Thursday.
“Work is still being done on complementary projects, such as the collection and cleaning of archaeological materials, their classification, and ordering,” Prieto said.
“All this work should lead to an analysis of the vast information, preparation of academic reports, and a large international research symposium on the Mayan civilization, which will be organized for this year.”
As of April 27, the INAH has registered and preserved as part of the Maya Train archaeological rescue project:
48,971 ancient buildings or foundations
896,449 ceramic fragments
1,817 movable objects
491 human remains
1,307 natural features, such as caves and cenotes.
Land cleared for the Maya Train near Playa del Carmen. While officials tout the amazing discoveries being made during construction work on the Maya Train, environmentalists say the project is causing irreparable damage to the jungle environment and cenotes on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Other notable discoveries made during construction include a 1,000-year-old Maya canoe at the San Andrés archaeological site near Chichén Itzá, an 8,000-year-old human skeleton in a cenote near Tulum, and a previously unknown archaeological site of more than 300 buildings in Quintana Roo, dubbed Paamul II.
Prieto has previously said that a new museum will be constructed in Mérida that will be dedicated to discoveries unearthed during the construction of the Maya Train.
The INAH is also analyzing the findings at its laboratory in Chetumal, which Prieto said would nourish the study of Mayan civilizations for the next 25 years.
However, while the archaeological rescue process is thought to be progressing well, the Maya Train continues to face strong resistance from environmentalists, who believe the project will do irreversible damage to the region’s unique ecosystems and subterranean lakes.
Genetic Study Establishes Native Ancestors Were in Alaska 3,000 Years Ago
In a study published in iScience, researchers analyzed ancient genetic data to show that some modern Alaska Natives still live almost exactly where their ancestors did 3,000 years ago. The researchers studied the genome of a 3,000-year-old female individual and found that she is most closely related to Alaska Natives living in the area today. This discovery strengthens the idea that genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska has continued for thousands of years, shedding light on human migration routes, mixtures among people from different waves of migration, and territorial patterns of Pacific Northwest inhabitants in the pre-colonial era.
Researchers have discovered that some modern Alaska Natives still live almost exactly where their ancestors did 3,000 years ago, highlighting genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska and shedding light on human migration patterns and pre-colonial territorial patterns in the Pacific Northwest.
The first people to live in the Americas migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge more than 20,000 years ago. Some made their way as far south as Tierra del Fuego, at the tip of South America. Others settled in areas much closer to their place of origin where their descendants still thrive today.
In “A paleogenome from a Holocene individual supports genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska,” published recently in the journal iScience, University at Buffalo evolutionary biologist Charlotte Lindqvist and collaborators show, using ancient genetic data analyses, that some modern Alaska Natives still live almost exactly where their ancestors did some 3,000 years ago.
Lindqvist, PhD, associate professor of biological sciences at the UB College of Arts and Sciences, is senior author of the paper. In the course of her studies in Alaska, she explored mammal remains that had been found in a cave on the state’s southeast coast. One bone was initially identified as coming from a bear. However, genetic analysis showed it to be the remains of a human female.
“We realized that modern Indigenous peoples in Alaska, should they have remained in the region since the earliest migrations, could be related to this prehistoric individual,” says Alber Aqil, a UB PhD student in biological sciences and the first author of the paper. This discovery led to efforts to solve this mystery, which DNA analyses are well suited to address when archeological remains are as sparse as these were.
The bone that researchers found belonged to an ancient individual that the Wrangell Cooperative Association named Tatóok yík yées sháawat (Young lady in cave).
Learning from an ancestor
The earliest peoples had already started moving south along the Pacific Northwest Coast before an inland route between ice sheets became viable. Some, including the female individual from the cave, made their home in the area that surrounds the Gulf of Alaska. That area is now home to the Tlingit Nation and three other groups: Haida, Tsimshian, and Nisga’a.
As Aqil and colleagues analyzed the genome from this 3,000-year-old individual — “research that was not possible just 20 years ago,” Lindqvist noted — they determined that she is most closely related to Alaska Natives living in the area today. This fact showed it was necessary to carefully document as clearly as possible any genetic connections of the ancient female to present-day Native Americans.
In such endeavors, it is important to collaborate closely with people living in lands where archeological remains are found. Therefore, cooperation between Alaska Native peoples and the scientific community has been a significant component of the cave explorations that have taken place in the region.
The Wrangell Cooperative Association named the ancient individual analyzed in this study as “Tatóok yík yées sháawat” (Young lady in cave).
Genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska persists for thousands of years
Indeed, Aqil and Lindqvist’s research demonstrated that Tatóok yík yées sháawat is in fact closest related to present-day Tlingit peoples and those of nearby tribes along the coast. Their research, therefore, strengthens the idea that genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska has continued for thousands of years.
Human migration into North America, although it began some 24,000 years ago, came in waves — one of which, about 6,000 years ago — included the Paleo-Inuit, formerly known as Paleo-Eskimos. Importantly for understanding Indigenous peoples’ migrations from Asia, Tatóok yík yées sháawat’s DNA did not reveal ancestry from the second wave of settlers, the Paleo-Inuit. Indeed, the analyses performed by Aqil and Lindqvist helped shed light on the continuing discussion of migration routes, mixtures among people from these different waves, as well as modern territorial patterns of inland and coastal people of the Pacific Northwest in the pre-colonial era.
Oral history links an ancient woman to people living in Southeast Alaska today
The oral origin narratives of the Tlingit people include the story of the most recent eruption of Mount Edgecumbe, which would place them exactly in the region by 4,500 years ago. Tatóok yík yées sháawat, their relative, therefore informs not just modern-day anthropological researchers but also the Tlingit people themselves.
Out of respect for the right of the Tlingit people to control and protect their cultural heritage and their genetic resources, data from the study of Tatóok yík yées sháawat will be available only after review of its use by the Wrangell Cooperative Association Tribal Council.
“It’s very exciting to contribute to our knowledge of the prehistory of Southeast Alaska,” said Aqil.
Reference: “A paleogenome from a Holocene individual supports genetic continuity in Southeast Alaska” by Alber Aqil, Stephanie Gill, Omer Gokcumen, Ripan S. Malhi, Esther Aaltséen Reese, Jane L. Smith, Timothy T. Heaton and Charlotte Lindqvist, 8 April 2023, iScience.
Michigan researchers have found the wreckage of two ships that disappeared into Lake Superior in 1914 and hope the discovery will lead them to a third that sank at the same time, killing nearly 30 people aboard the trio of lumber-shipping vessels.
In this image taken from video provided by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, lettering identifying the wrecked ship as property of the Edward Hines Lumber Company is seen in Lake Superior in August 2022.
In this undated image provided by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, the Selden E. Marvin is seen via sonar technology in Lake Superior.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced the discoveries this month after confirming details with other researchers. Ric Mixter, a board member of the society and a maritime historian, called witnessing the discoveries “a career highlight.”
“It not only solved a chapter in the nation’s darkest day in lumber history, but also showcased a team of historians who have dedicated their lives towards making sure these stories aren’t forgotten,” Mixter said.
The vessels owned by the Edward Hines Lumber Company sank into the ice-cold lake on Nov. 18, 1914, when a storm swept through as they moved lumber from Baraga, Michigan, to Tonawanda, New York. The steamship C.F. Curtis was towing the schooner barges Selden E. Marvin and Annie M. Peterson; all 28 people aboard were killed.
The society’s team found the wreck of the Curtis during the summer of 2021 and the Marvin a year later within a few miles of the first discovery. The organization operates a museum in Whitefish Point and regularly runs searches for shipwrecks, aiming to tell “the lost history of all the Great Lakes” with a focus on Lake Superior, said Corey Adkins, the society’s content and communications director.
“One of the things that makes us proud when we discover these things is helping piece the puzzle together of what happened to these 28 people,” Adkins said. “It’s been 109 years, but maybe there are still some family members that want to know what happened. We’re able to start answering those questions.”
Both wrecks were discovered about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Grand Marais, Michigan, farther into the lake than the 1914 accounts suggested the ships sank, Adkins said.
There was also damage to the Marvin’s bow and the Curtis’ stern, making researchers wonder whether a collision contributed, he said.
“Those are all questions we want to consider when we go back out this summer,” Adkins said.
Video footage from the Curtis wreckage showed the maintained hull of the steamship, its wheel, anchor, boiler and still shining gauges — all preserved by Lake Superior’s cold waters, along with other artifacts.
Another recording captured the team’s jubilant cheers as the words “Selden E. Marvin” on the hull came into clear view for the first time on a video feed shot by an underwater drone at the barge wreck site.
“We’re the first human eyes to see it since 1914, since World War I,” one team member mused.
University of New Mexico archaeologist Keith Prufer is among the authors, along with colleagues at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Potsdam University. The findings may have significance for populations in the region facing climate change today.
The research team studied variations in stable isotope signatures from a stalagmite collected in a cave in Belize near an archaeological site in the former heartland of the Maya. The carbon and oxygen isotope ratios are sensitive recorders of local and regional rainfall dynamics.
This paper is a continuation of 18 years of research by Prufer, UNM colleagues, and an international team of scientists into the past climate in the Belize tropics.
Prufer has been a principal investigator for the research program, with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alphawood Foundation.
“The climate record was generated from a cave called Yok Balum, located near the ancient Maya city of Uxbenká. That ancient city figures prominently in this article and is important because it is the closest to the site of the climate data and because of two decades of research there exploring the timing of the collapse,” Prufer explained.
This paper is a collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany to get advanced time-series modeling to understand the patterning of seasonal variation. The lead at PIK, Tobias Braun, used this study for his dissertation.
Also included in the research team from UNM are Ph.D. candidate student Erin Ray and Victor Polyak, a senior research scientist in the UNM Department of Earth and Planetary Science. Ray worked to assemble the cultural data, such as the data that records the dynastic history of the Maya from their hieroglyphs, and demographic data. Polyak originally developed the high-precision chronology for the climate and seasonality records.
“A key ingredient for Maya agriculture was the timely arrival of sufficient rainfall. Farming in subtropical Central America is tough because freshwater is only available during the summer rainy season.
Changes of onset and intensity of the rainy season can have serious repercussions for Central American societies,” Braun noted in a PIK press release about the newly published study. While most scientists agree that repeated intense droughts were one of the key factors that led to the fragmentation of urban centers and population dispersal in lowland Maya societies, evidence at seasonal time scale was so far missing. And this is exactly what the study takes into focus.
The significance of this record is three-fold, according to Prufer.
“First, it is a novel climate record for the American tropics with such high resolution – one to seven samples per year over a 1,600-year period − allowing us to look at changes in seasonality from year to year. It is also the first such record to incorporate advanced time series modeling to evaluate seasonal variation in the neotropics and link those changes directly to quantitative cultural records,” Prufer explained.
Second, the research sheds new light on an enduring question in Maya archaeology: What caused the population decline and disintegration of political institutions at the end of the Classic Period between 250 and 850 CE?
Prufer and his colleagues found that changes in seasonality would have challenged food production in this region where all agriculture is directly dependent on rainfall by making the timing for planting harvesting much more difficult − or impossible − to predict from year-to-year.
“The collapse was significant,” he noted. “Over the course of perhaps 100 to 150 years, populations as high as 5 to 10 million people declined by as much as 60 to 70 percent, and a complete form of governance was abandoned.”
Third, this research has significance for farming today. The past is an indication of what might be expected in a dire future.
“With modern global climate change, seasonality patterns are again far less predictable than they were only a couple of decades ago,” Prufer pointed out. “This is forcing modern Maya farming communities − and everyone else − to rethink how they produce food and how to achieve food security, considering their dependence on the timing of the rainy season and the seasonal distribution of rainfall, which is no longer predictable.
“This is important because farming requires both traditional knowledges of when to clear fields and plant, as well as a reliable amount of rainfall each season. When this breaks down, it causes food shortages and human suffering. This case study has implications for collective responses to climate change across the global tropics, a region that feeds over 2 billion people.”
Intact Ball Game Carving Discovered at Chichen Itza
With its complete Mayan hieroglyphic text, a Ball Game marker is discovered at Chichén Itzá.
*** Presents two ball players in the center; It has a diameter of 32.5 centimeters, 9.5 centimeters thick, and 40 kilograms in weight.
*** It must have been attached to an arch that served as access to the Casa Colorada architectural complex
In the Archaeological Zone of Chichén Itzá, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) discovered a stone marker of the Ball Game in a circular shape, which presents a bas-relief glyphic band surrounding two attired characters like ball players.
The relevance of the finding lies in the fact that it is a sculptural element that preserves its complete glyphic text.
With 32.5 centimeters in diameter, 9.5 centimeters thick, and 40 kilograms in weight, the piece was found during archaeological work carried out as part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (Promeza), in charge of the Federal Ministry of Culture.
The piece, named Ball Players Disc, was found by archaeologist Lizbeth Beatriz Mendicuti Pérez, within the Casa Colorada architectural complex (named after the remains of red paint inside) or Chichanchob ─located between the Ossuary and the Observatory─, as part of Structure 3C27, which corresponds to an access arch to the area, informed the archaeologist Francisco Pérez Ruiz, who together with the archaeologist José Osorio León coordinates the execution of the Promise in Chichén Itzá.
“In this Mayan site it is rare to find hieroglyphic writing, let alone a complete text; It hasn’t happened for more than 11 years,” said archaeologist Pérez Ruiz, explaining that the monument found functioned as a marker of some important event related to the Casa Colorada Ball Game, a court much smaller than the Great Game of Chichen Itza ball.
The researcher estimates that this Ball Game marker must correspond to the Terminal Classic or Early Postclassic period, between the end of the 800s and the beginning of 900 AD.
In turn, the archaeologist Mendicuti Pérez explained that the monument was found in an inverted position, 58 centimeters from the surface, which suggests that it was part of the east wall of the aforementioned arch, and its final position was due to its collapse.
He explained that it is a disc composed of rock of sedimentary origin, recognized by the geographer Arlette Herver Santamaría. The glyphic band, present on the front face, measures approximately six centimeters wide, which surrounds an iconographic interior record 20 centimeters in diameter: the iconographic and epigraphic study, headed by the responsible archaeologist, Santiago Alberto Sobrino Fernández, has identified two characters dressed as ball players, standing in front of a ball.
“The character on the left wears a feathered headdress and a sash that features a flower-shaped element, probably a water lily. At the height of his face, a scroll can be distinguished, which can be interpreted as breath or voice. The opponent wears a headdress known as a ‘snake turban’, whose representation is seen on multiple occasions in Chichén Itzá.
The individual wears ballcourt protectors. The epigraphic band consists of 18 cartouches with a short count date of 12 Eb 10 Cumku, which tentatively points to AD 894.
Pérez Ruiz announced that the study of the piece will be carried out within the Promeza; At the moment, its conservation is already being attended to.
Meanwhile, the movable property restorer, Claudia Alejandra Mei Chong Bastidas, desalinated the piece with cellulose fiber compresses and physical-chemical cleaning with distilled water.
In turn, the biologist Luis Alberto Rodríguez Catana has carried out the photogrammetry process, in order to have high-resolution images of the details of the iconography and the glyphic text, to later be studied down to the smallest detail, the researcher concluded.
83 ancient Mexican artifacts returned from Italy, Germany, France
A pre-Hispanic carving of a bird recently returned by German authorities to the Mexican government.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has announced the return of 40 historical artifacts from Italy, as well as another 40 from Germany and three from France.
Some of the artifacts are nearly 1,700 years old.
Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto telling reporters about the recovery of 83 pre-Hispanic artifacts returned to Mexico by Italian, German and French authorities.
The artifacts arrived safely back in Mexico thanks to Aeromexico, who collected them in Rome, Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto reported during President López Obrador’s daily press conference on Tuesday.
Frausto traveled to Rome to repatriate the articles in person.
“There was joy, applause, and a lot of pride,” amongst the team on the return journey, she said. Videos on Twitter showed the group jubilantly celebrating the loading of the items into the aircraft in Rome.
“Not only do we announce the recovery of heritage but also the recovery of dignity in this country,” she told the assembled press.
Forty of the artifacts being repatriated on an Aeromexico flight from Rome.
The artifacts were confiscated in 2021 by the Carabinieri group for the Protection of Cultural Heritage — and Italian enforcement agency tasked with identifying cultural items that may have been removed without permission from their countries of origin.
Some of the pieces in question were in private hands at the time of the seizure.
It is not the first time Italy has returned missing cultural artifacts to Mexico: as recently as July, it returned 30 artifacts found by Italian authorities being offered for sale online and at auction. At the time, Mexico gave Italy custody of 1,271 documents in its possession that were connected to the Italian sculptor Ettore Ferrari in exchange.
Italy has returned to Mexico at least 70 pre-Hispanic artifacts confiscated in its nation in less than a year. These three were returned to Mexico in July.
The Italian government has been directly advising Mexico on how to create a similar cultural protection enforcement organization that could further recover more missing items and has sent an attaché to Mexico to assist.
The recovery of historical artifacts has been a key element of foreign policy under the López Obrador government, and foreign embassies have been instructed to advertise repatriation services.
“Binational cooperation is experiencing a happy moment,” said Giorgio Silli, the Italian Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs.
Las piezas sustraídas del país, que la casa Millon Maison de ventes aux enchères pretende vender, son parte de la identidad y riqueza invaluable del pueblo de 🇲🇽
President López Obrador has prioritized the recovery of pre-Hispanic artifacts, and through the Culture Ministry, launched an education campaign aiming at getting owners to repatriate such items. In this tweet, pre-Hispanic items being offered for sale outside Mexico are highlighted.
In addition to the artifacts recovered from Italy, INAH says that a further 40 pieces have been returned by Germany, as well as 3 from France, several of which date from 400 B.C.
The French pieces were part of a private inheritance that had been delivered to an auction house. According to the newspaper El Pais, the owner delisted and returned the objects to the Mexican embassy in Paris after learning of the government repatriation scheme, according to El País.
The Mexican government is now targeting the return of 83 Olmec artifacts from France that are set to be sold at a private auction on April 3. Frausto has slammed the auction of these pre-Hispanic pieces and at the press event, she challenged people who would buy such artifacts to appreciate works being made by modern artisans throughout Mexico.
“They are put up for sale as if they were a luxury item to decorate a house as if they were merchandise. This is not only illegal but it is also immoral…
“We call for potential buyers to set their eyes on the art in towns today. There are extraordinary pieces that may be adorning the most luxurious houses in the world. Contemporary art in Mexico is also a power. Visit and see this art that is being created right now,” she said.
INAH reports that a total of 11,505 archaeological pieces have now been repatriated under President López Obrador’s government.
The secret of the mummy in the Crystal coffin found in a garage in San Francisco
Mysterious mummies are a symbol of ancient lost times, which we often associate with Egypt and other ancient civilizations. Therefore, the discovery of a coffin made of crystal with the body of a girl come from under the floor of a garage in San Francisco is absolutely shocking.
In 2016, while remodeling an old garage in San Francisco, California, workers found a strange object that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a child’s coffin with an extraordinary design.
Rusted bolts held a metal object together that resembled a large shaped casket, and it was only by unscrewing the bolts that it was possible to identify what it was. Bolts fixed a sheet of metal that covered two windows made of thick glass. Looking inside the box, the workers were taken aback — inside lay the body of a small blonde girl, almost untouched by decay.
The discovery of an old coffin containing the body of a child terrified the people of San Francisco and perplexed scientists. It took them a long time to figure out the mystery of an unusual burial.
Coffin inside lay the body of a blond girl dressed in a lace dress. Her hair was decorated with lavender petals, and on her chest lay a wreath in the form of a cross of blue bindweeds. In her hands, she held a large purple nightshade flower.
There were no details inside the coffin that would help identify the body. The body was examined, described, and photographed, after which the experts drew up a protocol, placed the metal coffin containing the child in a wooden box, and… handed it over to the garage owner.
According to the law, if the corpse is not a criminal and the relatives are unknown, the burial duties are assigned to the owner of the land where the body was discovered.
During the paperwork, the police gave the deceased the name Eva. And the mistress of the garage, where they found the burial, named the child Miranda.
But how did the coffin with the little dead girl end up under the garage? This was not a surprising occurrence given that the structure stood on the grounds of Odd Fellows Cemetery, San Francisco’s largest cemetery. When the rapidly growing metropolis came close to the extreme graves, a large city churchyard was closed for burials in 1890.
When the cemetery started to negatively impact the neighborhood over time, it was decided to close it down in 1923. Most of the remains were exhumed and buried in common graves, while some of the bodies were taken by relatives for reburial. The coffin with the girl was obviously forgotten in the confusion and remained in the ground, which was handed over to developers.
Tissue and hair samples were taken from the deceased girl for DNA analysis. Erica Karner was busy burying Eva-Miranda while the examination was taking place. The girl’s body began to decompose after the airtight coffin was opened. It was impossible to delay the burial.
Tissue analysis revealed that the baby’s mother was born in the British Isles. Even more interesting were the results of the hair study.
“Hair DNA analysis showed that the child had a protein deficiency and severe malnutrition.
And experts said that most likely this arose due to some kind of illness or due to the amount of medication that the child used,” the lawyer said.
Volunteers explored the city archives. They found a record of the burial of a two-year-old girl who died due to severe exhaustion. Her name is Edith Howard Cook. The child died in October 1876.
The parents’ names were Horatio Nelson and Edith Skaufi Cook. Scientists have even found living relatives of the “girl from the crystal coffin.”
Thus, volunteers and scientists were able to solve the mystery surrounding the mysterious burial and give the girl’s name back who passed away nearly 150 years ago.
Sleeping Beauty.
Parents often embalmed their dead children’s bodies centuries ago. The famous mummy of a child is kept in Palermo’s Capuchin catacombs. Rosalia Lombardo, the daughter of a Sicilian official, died of pneumonia in 1920. The girl’s body was so well preserved that she was nicknamed “Sleeping Beauty”.
