A 16th-century female mummy discovered in a family graveyard last year has been reburied in a decision by her descendants after they were alarmed by recurring dreams that they believed to be a message from beyond.
The mummy was excavated in April last year during a graveyard relocation by members of the Ryu clan at a mountain in Naju, 356 kilometers southwest of Seoul. Its well-preserved condition drew the attention of academia, and the family accepted a request by Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul to donate it for examination.
But the Ryu descendants soon began to have recurring dreams of a cow, traditionally interpreted in Korea to represent a family ancestor. A family representative called the hospital and asked for the mummy's return.
The mummy is believed to be of a woman surnamed Lee who married into the Ryu clan. The Ryu family registry book says she was born in 1544 and died at age 43. Lain in a wooden casket and buried in soil, the mummy still had elastic skin and hair and her eyelashes were intact.
The cause of death was uncertain, but medical experts say she may have died while giving birth, based on what appears to be placenta dislocated
from her uterus, and the fact that she was biting her tongue.
Korea University said the mummy was reburied together with her husband, dozens of meters away from where she was first discovered, in the family
graveyard early Saturday morning.
An endoscopic test was conducted and tissue samples were taken prior to the return, the university said. The hospital research team also examined the mummy for features that may help shed light on Koreans' clothing and diet in the mid-16th century.
"It is expected to take two more years to complete our report on the illness she suffered and her exact cause of death," Jeong Gwang-ho, a
researcher, said.