Researchers long thought the prehistoric mummies of Egypt were created by accident. But mounting evidence suggests people had a hand in preserving these ancient dead.
Photograph courtesy Museo Egizio
Science & Innovation
PUBLISHED August 15, 2018
The mummy lays delicately curled in the fetal position. Though it now rests in a museum in Turin, Italy, it assumed its vulnerable pose thousands of years ago in Egypt, baked in the searing sands near the banks of the Nile.
Dating to some 5,600 years ago, the prehistoric mummy at first seemed to have been created by chance, roasted to a decay-resistant crisp in the desert. But new evidence suggests that the Turin mummy was no accident—and now researchers have assembled a detailed recipe for its embalmment.
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