In 2003, workers quarrying in Turkey Mountain, Inner Mongolia, China accidentally discovered an ancient tomb . Immediately, archaeological experts and leading scientists were called to the scene to perform excavation work. However, during the excavation process, the entire team of experts had to experience extremely terrifying, even life-threatening, moments.
The scale of the ancient tomb is not too large but is still considered spacious. Based on the burial items and construction structure, this ancient tomb was built during the Liao Dynasty, about 1000 years ago. The owner of this ancient tomb buried it quite hastily rather than preparing it for a long time.
The most important thing when excavating an ancient tomb is of course still finding the coffin and studying the owner’s remains. When they saw the coffin inside, experts were surprised and a little scared when it was blood red – something not often seen. The coffin had a phoenix pattern carved on it, showing that its owner was an ancient noble woman.
The coffin after being brought to the research room
As usual, the archaeological team decided to open the coffin to explore inside. Everyone was amazed and surprised because inside was a body that had not decomposed at all even though it had been buried hundreds of years ago. The head of the remains was covered with a rotten woven cloth. To avoid damage and protect the tomb, the expert took an X-ray first and then carefully peeled off each layer of fabric. This is when China’s leading archaeological experts have a rare “mind-blowing” experience.
From inside the coffin flowed a strange liquid that was not muddy water and emitted a very strange and unpleasant smell. One person in the group quickly noticed something unusual and shouted: “Danger! Run quickly or you’ll be lost!”. Hearing the unexpected shouts, everyone ran out even though it was unclear what the specific situation was.
From the remains flowed an extremely strange liquid
After that, an expert wearing a sterile protective suit approached the coffin to take a sample of the mysterious and terrifying liquid. It turned out that it was mercury – an extremely toxic liquid that can kill people in small amounts. In thousands of years old corpses there is a very large amount of mercury. It is the key to keeping the mummy so perfectly preserved.
To keep the body from decomposing, before burial, thousands of years ago, the ancients devised a way to inject large amounts of mercury into the body. This is a discovery that makes scientists admire the wisdom of their ancestors.
Not only that, this method of embalming also has another equally intelligent purpose, which is to prevent thieves from robbing graves. Those who dare to open the coffin lid are at risk of being harmed by mercury, or even losing their lives if they are unlucky. So the scientists were extremely lucky to recognize the problem early and run away from the tomb.
Thanks to mercury, the grave owner’s thousand-year-old body has not yet completely decomposed
Later research showed that the owner of the tomb was likely a princess, sister of Lieu Thai To. She was buried lightly, quickly, and not as grandly as the ancient royal family because the princess’s husband was guilty of treason, so the wife was also implicated.
