2,000-yr-old intact female skeleton with gray hair discovered in China

New Delhi, Nov 25 (ANI): An intact skeleton of an elderly woman has been excavated from an ancient tomb dating back to around 2,200 years ago in central China's Hubei Province.

Archaeologists found the skeleton from a tomb from the early Western Han dynasty at the construction site of an industrial park in the north of Zhuchengjie, a satellite city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, on November 19, reports People's Daily Online.

While exploring a tomb numbered M6, the team found a nearly intact outer coffin and almost no water had leaked into it.

And to their surprise, there was a well-preserved dark brown skeleton inside the inner coffin, with a lot of grey hair still on the skull.

The coffin was tied with seven pieces of hemp rope.

It was identified as the skeleton of a woman aged about 70 years, according to the funeral customs of the early Western Han dynasty, the distance between the chin and the pit of the stomach; bone structure and thickness; as well as other evidence.

The team explained that the woman's skeleton and hair were well preserved because she was buried in multiple coffins, with the outer coffin covered by a thick layer of special plaster, and hair was not easily damaged by water. (ANI)