The strange coffin of a 2,200-year-old “sleeping beauty” wearing dozens of layers of sheepskin coat was found in a tree hollow in a Swiss forest, according to QQ News.
Accordingly, the “sleeping beauty” is said to have died 2,200 years ago. The clothes and jewelry buried with her reflect her high status within the tribe.
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The discovery of the coffin of the “sleeping beauty” began in 1903, when people excavated an ancient tomb near the Limmat River, Zurich, Switzerland. Inside the ancient tomb was a skeleton of a man, along with ancient weapons such as armor, swords, spears and shields.
But archaeologists believe that this ancient tomb is actually a secondary tomb – similar to the terracotta warriors guarding the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, but of course the scale is much smaller.
The jewelry was buried with the woman. QQ photo.
It was not until a long time later that the main tomb was found near the secondary tomb in a dense forest with towering ancient trees.
What is special is that the body of the owner of the tomb is buried in a hollow tree hollow, only 80 meters from the secondary grave.
After opening the coffin in the hollow of a tree, archaeologists were extremely surprised to discover that the body of the female owner inside the coffin was still intact as if she was just sleeping soundly after thousands of years. She was a noble woman, about 40 years old when she died.
She wore dozens of sheepskin coats and looked very peaceful, as if she were sleeping in a coffin. That’s why the media nicknamed her “Sleeping Beauty”.
Scientists say that the woman in the coffin was Celtic. The Iron Age Celts were famous for their custom of burying members of their tribe in “tree coffins”.
The woman is said to have died 2,200 years ago, at the age of 40. Bone analysis showed that she had little labor throughout her life, proving her noble status.
The jewelry buried with the woman included bronze bracelets, a very elaborate bronze belt and a beautiful necklace strung from amber and glass beads. From then on, the woman was said to belong to the royal or aristocratic class.
The image recreates the coffin containing the body of the 2,200-year-old “sleeping beauty” buried in a tree hollow in Switzerland. QQ photo.
Researchers also examined her teeth and discovered that the “beauty” liked to eat sugar and starch when 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 “beauty” remains intact after thousands of years is still a mystery. Archaeologists believe that perhaps the dense forest where she was buried had substances that helped her body decompose less easily, or the coffin itself in the tree hole also had an antiseptic function, preventing decay. decomposition.
In ancient times, the Celtic sacrificial rituals and beliefs were full of mysteries. Their religious teachings believe in the immortality of the soul, that the soul will pass from one body to another after death. Therefore, if the body is placed in the hollow of a tree, the soul of the dead can receive the blessing of the “sacred tree” to reincarnate.
Some historians even say that the Celts were perhaps the first people to have gender equality in world history. However, burial in a tree is only reserved for the nobility.
The excavation of the coffin of the “sleeping beauty” has helped bring archaeologists unexpected new insights into the Celts and their living habits in ancient Europe, leaving many mysteries surrounding them. This tribe is no longer mysterious.