1,300-year-old mummy in a cocoon of cloth in Siberia

Russian scientists found mummies in the cocoon of an adult and nearly 6-month-old baby buried 1,300 years in Siberia.

Scientists at Russia's Arctic Research Center found a 1,300-year-old mummy covered in copper and fur in Siberia's Zeleniy Yar cemetery, the Arctic edge, Sun on July 16 reported. Most likely this is a resident of an ancient civilization, with links to Persia. Next to this mummy, the team also discovered the remains of a baby.

The cocoon contains a mummy of an adult covered with copper plates from head to toe in Siberia.(Photo: Alexander Gusev).

"Two mummies lie side by side along the north-south direction. The feet of the dead turn towards the nearby Gorny Poluy river. Covering the mummy of adults is copper plates. The baby's mummy, small over 6 months old, in small pieces of a cauldron, " said Alexander Gusev, a member of the research team.

Gusev said the bodies were in a cocoon made of thick cloth and liquid derived from the method of distilling birch bark. The composition of the compound used for embalming will be revealed after testing in the laboratory.

According to the Siberian Times, the length of the cocoon wrapped around an adult's mummy is 170cm. Therefore, the person inside may be about 165cm tall. The team will take this mummy to a laboratory in Tyumen, Russia, to determine the exact gender and age as well as the type of fur used to warm the dead on the way to the afterlife.

The archaeological complex, where two new mummies were discovered, was first discovered in 1997 when the US and Russia collaborated on the "Living Yamal" project. Researchers found many artifacts of Persians in this area.