ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered 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.
The 2,000-year-old tomb was discovered untouched with frescoes in pristine condition.[/caption]
The grave goods suggest that the mummy was the founder of the family[/caption]
The remains had been smothered in plant-based creams before they were locked in the chamber – which experts believe helped preserve the bodies.
The fascinating find supplied new and 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 paid to the deceased and the chronology of the grave goods found, it is suggested that he was the head of the family for whom the mausoleum was constructed.
The researchers are yet to reveal the images of the newly found mummies.
Archaeologists have previously discovered a huge number of burial sites in the same area, dating from the Roman Republic era to the Roman Imperial Age.
Excavations at the necropolis' border last year led archaeologists to the unsealed tomb, which was dubbed “the tomb of Cerberus”.
Many frescoes across the untouched chamber's ceilings and walls were found in pristine condition.
The entrance to the tomb was adorned with a magnificent mural of Cerberus, the three-headed dog from Greek mythology who is thought to be the underworld's guardian.
The multi-headed beast is believed to prevent the dead from escaping the wrath of hell.
Some believers in the ancient mythology took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express their worries over the eerie find.
One person wrote: “Guard those gates.”
Another one added: “Leave the dead alone,” as the scientists prepare to study the discovered remains.
The tomb of Cerberus is located in Guigliano where the ancient Greeks settled between the eighth and seventh century BC.
The team at the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape, who made the discovery, have been left baffled at the condition of the corpses and the methods used for preservation.
The remains had been covered in cream produced from absinthium (wormwood) and chenopodium, a genus of perennial herb often known as goosefoot.
The combination has been seen on other remains, such as the 17th-century bishop's body discovered under a Swedish cathedral.
However, the unveiled mummy was wrapped in a shroud that, according to scientists, mineralized as a result of the chamber's internal temperature.
Superintendent Mariano Nuzzo said in a statement: “In recent months, in fact, laboratory analyzes conducted on samples taken from the inhumations and the depositional beds have returned a considerable amount of data on the treatment of the deceased's body and the funerary ritual carried out, significantly enriching the panorama of our knowledge.”
The burial chamber was found when archaeologists noticed a wall constructed with opus incertum – an antique Roman construction method.
The technique employed uncut stones with erratic shapes and haphazard placement, which first appeared in the second century BC.
It was later found to be the tomb's front wall, which had been sealed with a thick slab of tuff – a light-colored, porous rock formed by the combination of sediments and volcanic ash.
The archaeologists had to carefully remove the tiles covering the ceiling aperture in order to gain entry into the burial chamber.
Once inside, they made what experts called an “unprecedented” discovery.
They were able to glimpse the bodies inside after inserting a mini camera into the tiny aperture.
With funding from Italy's Ministry of Culture, the experts are now conducting DNA analysis to identify the mummified human remains.
It comes after archaeologists have found the “lost” survivors of Pompeii who made it through the horror 18-hour volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago.
It's often been depicted that there were no survivors following Mount Vesuvius' eruption in AD 79 but the latest findings suggest that narrative isn't entirely true.
In Egypt, scientists uncovered a massive ancient “City of the Dead” with 1,400 mummies in hidden tombs from 2,500 years ago.
The massive burial site in Egypt's Aswan uncovered 36 tombs that were shockingly reused across centuries – containing around three dozen mummies in each.
But in a scientific breakthrough, initial studies on the remains show how some mummies died of ancient illness.
Eerie child mummies in Sicily tomb
By Harry Pettit, Deputy Technology and Science Editor
REMAINS of 1,284 naturally mummified children are laid to rest at Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo.
The partially skeletonised bodies are stacked along the underground crypts and chambers dating as far back as the 1590s.
The children believed to have died between 1787 and 1880, but very little is known about who they were and how they died.
Some of them – stored in a heartbreaking “child chapel” – are so well preserved that they are said to look like tiny sleeping dolls.
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo is the largest collection of mummified remains in Europe.
The cemetery was originally reserved for monks of the Capuchin order, but was later opened to members of the public.
At the time, being turned into a mummy was a status symbol and “a way to preserve status and dignity even in death.
The mummies are part of Sicily's heritage and are on display to the general public and tourists.
