1,500-year-old mummified baby unearthed in Altai

Archaeologists in the southern Siberian republic of Altai announced Tuesday the discovery of a mummified young child believed to have lived more than 1,500 years ago.

The partially mummified remains of a young baby, possibly a newborn, 
were discovered inside an airtight stone coffin 
[Credit: Gorno-Altaisk State University]

The infant's remains were unearthed during excavations in Altai's Kosh-Agachsky district abutting Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, according to a statement on the website of Gorno-Altaisk State University, that financed the expedition to the site endangered by erosion.

The grave was found on the edge of a river close to the village of Kurai
 in the Kosh-Agach district of the Altai Republic in southern Siberia 
[Credit: Gorno-Altaisk State University]

“There was no earth in a tightly shut box that was the tomb of the baby, and the body had been isolated in this air chamber for more than 1,500 years,” the statement said.

Archaeologists found the child in a grave beside two other 
mounds, which may have been the baby's parents 
[Credit: Gorno-Altaisk State University]

The ethnic or cultural group to which the child belonged is not immediately clear nor are the circumstances of the child's death.

The child is believed to be from the mysterious Bulan-Kobinskaya culture, 
linked to the ancient Hun warriors, forbears of Attila the Hun 
[Credit: Gorno-Altaisk State University]

Scientists stressed that the mummification was not deliberate and that genetic testing would be conducted that could shed light on migration patterns in Siberia and Central Asia.

The body of an adult male, thought to have been the child's father,
 was discovered in a mound close to the mummified baby 
[Credit: Gorno-Altaisk State University]

“Dried soft body tissue and a leather shroud in which the child was wrapped have been partially preserved,” the university said.

Altai's climate is particularly conducive to the preservation of human remains and a number of significant finds have been made in the region, including the 1993 discovery of a 2,500-year-old Scythian woman's mummified corpse, dubbed The Ice Princess.

Source: The Moscow Times [August 25, 2015]

TANN

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