The remains of a medieval ‘mummy’ wrapped in a cocoon of birch bark has been discovered at the site of a village that belonged to a mysterious arctic civilisation.
Archaeologists discovered the remains, which they believe may be a child or teenager from the 12th or 13th century, while excavating near the town of Salekhard in Tyumen Oblast, Russia.
The site, which is 18 miles south of the Arctic Circle, is thought to be a medieval necropolis where several bodies have been buried in ways unlike anything else found in the region.
The human remains, which were found wrapped in a birch bark ‘cocoon’ shown above, are thought to have been mummified by a combination of copper buried with the body and the freezing permafrost. Archaeologists have removed the body in its wrappings from the sandy soil so it can be examined at in Salekhard, Russia.
Artifacts found at the site, including bronze bowls, have led experts to conclude the people had links to Persia, some 3,700 miles to the south-west.
Experts say bodies found at the site appear to have been naturally mummified in the permafrost as a result of being buried with sheets of copper in their shrouds and frozen conditions.
Archaeologists have now removed the latest body to be discovered from the sandy soil, which is now only frozen for part of the year – it is the first human remains to be found since 2002.
The remains, which are being kept in a special freezer in the Shemanovsky Museum in Salekhard, are due to be examined next week.
The birth bark cocoon is around 1.3 metres (4 feet) long and 30cm (12 inches) wide and initial examination has revealed there is metal beneath the birch bark.
Experts say it is likely the body inside has been mummified much like others found at the site.
Alexander Gusev, a fellow of the Research Centre for the Study of the Arctic in Russia who led the excavation, told the Siberian Times the birch bark cocoon appeared to have been wrapped around the body.
He said: ‘It follows the contours of the human body. If there is really a mummy, the head and skull are likely to be in good condition. We think it is a child, maybe a teenager.
‘The find is now in Salekhard, in the Shemanovsky Museum, in special freezer. We plan to return to Salekhard on 15 July and immediately start the opening of the ‘cocoon’.’
The mummy was discovered at the site of a medieval necropolis called Zeleny Yar, which has baffled some archaeologists due to its closeness to the Arctic Circle.
Scientists have discovered evidence of 2,300-year-old surgical procedure on two ancient skulls.
The skulls, unearthed in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, belonged to the Pazyryk nomadic tribe and showed clear signs of recovery after brain surgery.
Using similar tools and techniques, scientists now plan to recreate the same, high-risk procedure – albeit on skulls of the dead.
The skulls showed clear evidence of recovery after undergoing the process called ‘trepanation’, according to a report in the Siberian Times.
Trepanation was a risky ancient medical procedure which involved drilling a hole, or surgically scraping into a human skull.
It was used, among other things, to relieve brain swelling, and historians believe it may also have been mistakenly used to treat problems with the nervous system.
Five other mummified bodies have been found at the mysterious Zeleny Yar site, including the red headed man above who was found covered in copper plating and buried with an iron hatchet and covered in furs.
Previously they found 34 shallow graves at the site and 11 bodies with shattered or missing skulls.
Five mummies were found to be shrouded in copper and elaborately covered in reindeer, beaver, wolverine or bear fur. Among them was a female child whose face was masked by copper plates.
Three male infants, also shrouded in copper masks, were also found nearby. They were also bound in four or five copper hoops.
A red-haired man, protected from chest to foot with copper plating and buried with an iron hatchet, firs and a bronze head buckle depicting a bear was also found at the site.