ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a 2,000-year-old sarcophagus with perfectly preserved ancient mummies inside.
The “unprecedented” discovery was made in the historic “tomb of Cerberus” in Naples, Italy.
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The remains were covered in herbal creams before being locked in the chamber – which experts believe helped preserve the bodies.
The fascinating discovery has provided new, detailed evidence that reveals how Ancient Rome embalmed its own dead.
Upon unwrapping the shroud covering one of the bodies, the team discovered that the person was impeccably preserved.
Given the special attention given to the deceased and the chronology of the grave goods found, it is suggested that it was the head of the family for whom the mausoleum was built.
Researchers have not yet revealed images of the newly found mummies.
Archaeologists have already discovered a large number of cemeteries in the same area, falling in love from the era of the Roman Republic to the Roman Imperial Era.
Excavations on the edge of the necropolis last year led archaeologists to the unsealed tomb, which has been nicknamed “the tomb of Cerberus.”
Many frescoes on the untouched ceilings and walls of the chamber were found to be in perfect condition.
The entrance to the tomb was adorned with a magnificent mural of Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Greek mythology believed to be the guardian of the underworld.
The multi-headed beast is believed to prevent the dead from escaping the wrath of hell.
Some believers in ancient mythology took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their concerns about the mysterious discovery.
One person wrote: “Guard these gates.”
Another added: “Leave the dead alone,” as scientists prepare to study the discovered remains.
The tomb of Cerberus is situated in Guigliano, where the ancient Greeks settled between the 8th and 7th centuries BC.
The team from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, which made the discovery, was perplexed by the state of the corpses and the methods used for preservation.
The remains were covered with cream produced from wormwood (wormwood) and chenopodium, a genus of perennial herb known as goosefoot.
The combination has been seen in other remains, such as the body of a 17th-century bishop discovered beneath a Swedish cathedral.
However, the revealed mummy was wrapped in a shroud that, according to scientists, mineralized with the internal temperature of the chamber.
Superintendent Mariano Nuzzo said in a statement: “In recent months, in fact, laboratory analyzes carried out on samples taken from inhumations and deposition beds have returned a considerable amount of data on the treatment of the body of the deceased and the funeral ritual carried out, significantly enriching the panorama of our knowledge.”
The burial chamber was found when archaeologists noticed a wall built with opus incertum – an ancient Roman construction method.
The technique employed rough stones with erratic shapes and random placement, which first appeared in the second century BC.
It was later discovered to be the front wall of the tomb, which had been sealed with a thick slab of tuff – a light-colored, porous rock formed by the combination of sediment and volcanic ash.
Archaeologists had to carefully remove the tiles covering the ceiling opening to enter the burial chamber.
Once inside, they made what experts call an “unprecedented” discovery.
They managed to glimpse the bodies inside after inserting a mini camera in the small aperture.
With funding from the Italian Ministry of Culture, experts are now carrying out DNA analysis to identify the mummified remains.
It comes after archaeologists found the “lost” survivors of Pompeii who survived the horrific 18-hour volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago.
It has often been described that there were no survivors after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, but the latest discoveries suggest that the narrative is not entirely true.
In Egypt, scientists have discovered a huge, ancient “City of the Dead” with 1,400 mummies in hidden tombs from 2,500 years ago.
The massive cemetery in Aswan, Egypt, has uncovered 36 tombs that have been surprisingly reused over the centuries – containing around three dozen mummies in each.
But in a scientific breakthrough, early studies of the remains show how some mummies died from ancient illnesses.
Mysterious mummies of children in tomb in Sicily
By Harry Pettit, Deputy Technology and Science Editor
Remains of 1,284 naturally mummified children are buried in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo.
The partially skeletonized bodies are stacked throughout crypts and underground chambers dating back to the 1590s.
The children are believed to have died between 1787 and 1880, but very little is known about who they were and how they died.
Some of them – kept in a painful “children’s chapel” – are so well preserved that they are said to look like little sleeping dolls.
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo are the largest collection of mummified remains in Europe.
The cemetery was originally reserved for monks of the Capuchin order, but was later opened to the public.
At the time, being turned into a mummy was a status symbol and “a way of preserving status and dignity even in death.
The mummies are part of Sicily’s heritage and are on display to the general public and tourists.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
