It might look like something out of a horror film, but this ancient mummy could help reveal how people lived in the Arctic hundreds of years ago. The child had been preserved naturally in the freezing temperatures, which meant his internal organs were not removed, unlike artificial mummies.
Scientists have now ‘operated’ on the remains of the medieval boy to learn about how long ago tribes lived in the deep cold of northern Russia.
Aged six or seven, the child was encased in birch bark and copper, and found in an ancient necropolis close to the town of Salekhard, on the polar circle.
Experts have already started establishing the boy’s DNA, and gathering genetic samples from modern-day native Siberians in a hunt to find descendants of the medieval boy.
But the latest research will establish new details about how tribes lived in the deep cold of northern Russia some eight centuries ago.
‘The main thing is that this mummy was preserved naturally and the internal organs were not removed, unlike with artificial mummies,’ said Dr Sergey Slepchenko, researcher from the Institute of the Problems of Northern Development, Tyumen.
He was joined by leading international expert Professor Dong Hoon Shin, from Seoul National University in South Korea, for the pioneering work at Russia’s Scientific Centre of Arctic Research.
They took samples of tissue and probed the ancient boy’s internal organs.
‘All this will help us to learn as much as possible about the lifestyle of this child – how he lived, what he ate,’ said Dr Slepchenko.
‘If we are lucky, we have a slight chance of a hint on how he died. The odds are not great, but we hope.’
Samples were also taken from previously undisclosed partially mummified bodies found at the same Zeleny Yar necropolis in the past year.
‘For example, this year were found the remains of a young man with a mummified pelvis,’ he told The Siberian Times.
‘The upper part of his body is badly preserved, but the pelvis is mummified, so we could take the samples from his bowel and bladder.
‘That is – our main goal is to restore the picture of life of these people, to learn as much as possible about them.’
South Korean scientists are also working on elaborate research to recreate the face of this medieval child.
‘The degree of preservation is very good, so we think that the reconstruction will be successful,’ said Dr Slepchenko.
Scientists are keen to learn more of the mysterious group to which the boy belonged.
Archaeological evidence – notably bronze bowls found at the site – suggests the group, which lived virtually on the Arctic Circle, had links to Persia some 3,700 miles southwest.
Yet the hope is that the DNA tests will show links to modern-day Siberians.
