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According to archaeologists, a mummified teenager on display at the Smithsonian Museum for more than 100 years is believed to have died while giving birth to twins.
The mummified body, unearthed in 1908, belonged to a young person aged 14 to 17 who potentially passed away while giving birth, as stated by anthropologist Francine Margolis of George Washington University in the United States.
According to researchers, a teenager from over 2,000 years ago was found to have a wrapped and placed foetus between her legs during the mummification process.
In 1908, field notes were published confirming that she had passed away due to complications during childbirth.
However, during the process of obtaining pelvic measurements and determining the cause of death for the teenager, researchers performed CT X-ray scans on the mummy and discovered foreign objects within the chest cavity that were not part of the already wrapped fetus located between the legs.
A surprising discovery was made when conducting X-rays on the mummy’s remains, revealing the presence of a second foetus.
The scientists stated in their recent publication in the International Journal of Osteroarcheology that during their analysis of the CT images, they noted certain elements that were thought to be the foetus inside the mother.
Researchers determined that the mother was pregnant with twins.
Chest cavity X-ray of a female mummy.
The publication titled “International Journal of Osteoarchaeology”
It is uncertain if the teenager or anyone else was aware of her pregnancy with twins at the time of her passing.
Scientists say that the unusual location of the second fetus, near the woman’s chest cavity, is still unexplained.
The experts believe that the additional unborn baby may have shifted to this area of the woman’s body while she was being embalmed as part of the mummification process.
Scientists wrote that it is possible the unidentified infant was preserved through mummification along with its internal organs. The process of mummification would have resulted in the dissolving of the diaphragm and connective tissues in that region, potentially allowing the unborn baby to shift into the chest cavity.
They suspect that the transportation of the mummy from Egypt to the US may have also caused internal movement of the baby.
Apart from the possibility that the adolescent passed away during labor, researchers do not possess additional details on her well-being.
It is believed to be more challenging to gather information about her well-being due to the absence of her head.
The findings state that the mummy was carrying twins and was in the midst of giving birth when she passed away, according to the researchers.
Source: independent.co.uk
