Comments on: Death becomes her.

Death becomes her.

Fizz — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:30:55 -0800

"When [700] hundred years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm? " Face of incredibly preserved 700-year-old mummy found by chance by Chinese road workers.

By: condour75

condour75 — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:43:12 -0800

Since when is the Daily Mail our go-to site for candids of mummified royalty? Oh, right.

By: tomswift

tomswift — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:43:29 -0800

"Death becomes her." You might want to be aware, Fizz, that there's never been a woman that has responded to that statement in a positive manner.

By: Fizz

Fizz — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:45:13 -0800

You might want to be aware, Fizz, that there's never been a woman that has responded to that statement in a positive manner. She's dead though, what is she going to...haunt me?!

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 06:57:25 -0800

No but Goldie Hawn will smash your head in with a shovel.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:00:03 -0800

Them's some stylin' booties she's wearing.

By: tomswift

tomswift — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:02:22 -0800

Read my comment more carefully, Fizz, slowly, think about it, keep your fingers off the keyboard.

By: Fizz

Fizz — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:06:56 -0800

=-o

By: The Thnikkaman

The Thnikkaman — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:08:16 -0800

Daily Fail

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:12:03 -0800

Them's some stylin' booties she's wearing. I especially like how the soles appear to be made of 700-year-old Dr Scholl's odor eaters.

By: slater

slater — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:14:12 -0800

And the coffin was opened earlier this week, on March 1, much to the excitement of the local city - and further afield. And the right hand of the 700-year-old mummy showed her preserved skin, and a ring. Daily Mail uses Markov Chains to generate articles?

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:52:54 -0800

Thanks for this. She reminds me of the Lady of Dai, a plump, well-preserved Chinese noblewoman of approximately 145 BC, who is not looking at her best* on display here but who was amazingly lifelike on her discovery. It was even possible to analyze her last meal -- she enjoyed melons. ----- * And by that I mean "nightmare-inducing and against God."

By: Postroad

Postroad — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 07:53:48 -0800

there is now an exhibition of bodies, cast from the "remains" at Pompeii site in Italy, in NYCity. We seem endlessly fascinated by human remains, bodies. Here is a very nice article dealing with the subject (I will be posting this tomorrow at my site)... Plasticize Me

By: Fizz

Fizz — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:10:11 -0800

We seem endlessly fascinated by human remains, bodies. Is it the bodies or the glimpse into a long ago culture and society that fascinates us. I always struggle with finds and exhibits like this because while on the one hand I value the history, knowledge, and insight we gain into another culture and time...on the other we're essentially grave-robbing and disturbing someone else's tradition and culture of burial/mourning.

By: mendel

mendel — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:18:32 -0800

If she was so high-ranking, why did they bury her beside a road? EH?

By: Postroad

Postroad — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:37:37 -0800

It is not only old old budies and remains which fascinate us but rather bodies in general, as in this exhibit that has been attracting many many folks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm2xyiqVpkg

By: scalefree

scalefree — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:39:32 -0800

She's aged well: Face of incredibly preserved 700-year-old mummy found by chance by Chinese road workers Awful wording on the headline. Did they find her body or just her face?

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:47:39 -0800

In 700 years is someone going to be excited to dig my ass up? I think I'll have "put me back" tattooed to my forehead when I die. It'll be in my will.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 09:10:15 -0800

In the same room are the much more recent Han mummies - equally interesting, but rendering the display confusing, as it groups all the mummies closely together. Which makes sound political sense. Chinese mummies can have political implications. A display of much older mummies from Western China was recently the subject of controversy when, the day before the exhibit was meant to open at Penn, China suddenly withdrew its consent for the display. Chinese officials cited some official regulations (that they had apparently ignored in earlier planning), but many speculated that it was due to sensitivity over the mummies' Western features and the possibility the mummies' circumstances might lend support to the idea that Xinjiang isn't necessarily a historically Chinese region. After negotiation the Chinese government finally consented to a more temporally limited display of the mummies and associated artifacts. Anyone in the Philly area should totally go see the mummies (before March 15th, when the exhibit shuts down), if they're into that sorta thing! Anyway, I don't know what this means for the lady in the FPP - maybe nothing - but it's the context with which I view the post.

By: Wanderlust88

Wanderlust88 — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 09:13:27 -0800

Brown liquid?

By: the quidnunc kid

the quidnunc kid — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:00:05 -0800

Just a few days after revealing that the average living person is a 28 year old Chinese man, famed website MetaFilter has announced that the typical dead person is a 700 year old Chinese woman. "We gotta get these two together," said MetaFilter founder Matt Howie, a 56 year old Chinese web developer. "Then, I will raise the product of their unholy union as my own son." Several other "typical" things have also been revealed to be Chinese by MeFi, including Lady Gaga's sexuality and the future geopolitical environment. But some complain that Gaga does not, in fact, represent the real China. A website called Gays Against Ghanzhou has been established to protest against this very comment.

By: evening

evening — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:51:43 -0800

It is amazing how well preserved the textiles are. Those shoes look brand new. Impressive.

By: jaduncan

jaduncan — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:31:41 -0800

Can we get a NSFW claim on the Mail in general? I have to look people in the eye, you know.

By: supermedusa

supermedusa — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:43:43 -0800

for myself, I find this stuff very fascinating but I dont think its about "bodies" so much as a rare and wonderful glimpse into the past. to see such well preserved features, textiles etc., is incredible!

By: emeiji

emeiji — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:59:50 -0800

I always struggle with finds and exhibits like this because while on the one hand I value the history, knowledge, and insight we gain into another culture and time...on the other we're essentially grave-robbing and disturbing someone else's tradition and culture of burial/mourning. If someone ever digs me up, I will haunt their ass for eternity.

By: elizardbits

elizardbits — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 14:03:34 -0800

I will haunt their ass for eternity. ....kind of like a ghostly fart?

By: archagon

archagon — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 14:49:46 -0800

As fascinating as this discovery is, I can't help but wonder at what point it's okay to excavate the graves of the dead. Will she be reburied in a fitting manner, or shuttled back and forth between various research laboratories? What effect will removing her from the brown liquid have on her preservation?

By: bwg

bwg — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:58:58 -0800

Those booties look comfy; I want to get a pair just like them.

By: mendel

mendel — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:52:30 -0800

I can't help but wonder at what point it's okay to excavate the graves of the dead Once it's been long enough that no-one knows you're there and they've already dug up everything around you for a road: that point. Besides there's a long history of digging up the dead when you need the space for something else. What do they care? They're dead.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:48:23 -0800

At 1.5m, she's just shy of 5' - seems rather tall for a woman from that era. Good (better) and/or genetics? Or my misconception about average heights 700 years ago? (googling for average women's heights in medieval europe suggests that Western people in general weren't much shorter than they are now...) I, too, am intrigued by what the "brown liquid" consists of. Presumably something promoting an anoxic environment but with a neutral pH, to preserve the silk/cotton? bwg - google fails me, but I swear I've seen shoes in that style at (Vancouver's) Chinatown. iirc, they looked kinda cheap (costume clothing rather than everyday wear functional clothing), though.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:51:55 -0800

*Good (better) nutrition...