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The mystery of the 2,200-year-old “sleeping beauty”: The body does not rot, the coffin is hidden in the tree hole

Accordingly, the “sleeping beauty” is said to have died 2,200 years ago. The clothes and jewelry buried with her reflect her high status in the tribe.

The discovery of the coffin of the “sleeping beauty” dates back to 1903, when an ancient tomb was unearthed near the Limmat River, Zurich, Switzerland. Inside the ancient tomb was a skeleton of a man, along with ancient weapons such as armor, sword, spear, and shield.

But archaeologists believe that this ancient tomb is actually a side tomb – like the terracotta warriors guarding the tomb for Qin Shi Huang, but the scale is of course far less.

It was not until a long time later that the main tomb was found near the secondary tomb in a dense forest with towering old trees.



The special thing is, the body of the owner of the tomb is buried in a hollow tree, only 80 meters from the side tomb.

After opening the coffin in the tree cavity, archaeologists were surprised to discover that the female owner’s body inside the coffin was still intact as if it was just fast asleep after thousands of years. She was a noble woman, about 40 years old when she died.

She wore dozens of sheepskin coats, her expression very peaceful as if she was sleeping in a coffin. That’s why the media nicknamed her “Sleeping Beauty”.

Jewelry is buried with the woman. QQ’s photo.

Scientists say that the woman in the coffin is Celtic. The Iron Age Celts were famous for their custom of burying members of their tribe in “tree coffins”.



The woman is thought to have died 2,200 years ago, at the age of 40. Bone analysis showed that she was the one who had to work less during her life, proving her noble status.

Jewelry buried with the woman included a bronze bracelet, a very elaborate bronze belt and a beautiful necklace strung with amber and glass beads. From then on, the woman was said to be of the royal or aristocratic class.

The researchers also examined her teeth and found that the “beautiful” liked to eat sugar and starch while she was alive. More than 2,000 years ago, you had to belong to the nobility to enjoy such sugary foods.

However, why the body of the “beautiful” remains intact after thousands of years is still a mystery. Archaeologists think that perhaps the jungle where she was buried had substances that made her body less decomposed, or the coffin itself in the tree cavity also had an antiseptic function, preventing infection. decompose.



In ancient times, Celtic rituals and beliefs were full of mysteries. Their religious teachings believe in the immortality of the soul, that the soul will move from one body to another after death. So if you put the body in a tree hole, the soul of the dead person can receive the blessing of the “sacred tree” to reincarnate.

Some historians even say that the Celts were perhaps the first people to have equal gender rights in the history of the world. However, the form of burial in the reward tree was reserved only for the nobility.

The excavation of the coffin of the sleeping “beauty” has helped give archaeologists unexpected new insights into the Celts and their living habits in ancient Europe, leaving many mysteries surrounding. This tribe is no longer a mystery.