A Chinese expedition last winter found a mummy on the edge of the Lop Nur
salt basin, at a spot where a well-known scientist went mysteriously missing
nearly 26 years ago.
Now, another expedition is prepared to ascertain the identity of the mummy,
which was found near the place where recognized biochemist Peng Jiamu went
missing.
Members of an
expedition team preparing to find out the identity of the mummy put
up a tent near Lop Nur salt basin west China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region on April, 13,
2006. [sina]
|
Shaped like a human ear, Lop Nur is located in west
China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and considered the driest spot on
Earth. In the past, the region also had yielded other mummies, according to
other reports.
A number of pathfinders in history have lost their lives
or went missing in the 100,000-square kilometers place, where it is extremely
hot during daylight and fatally chilly at night.
Peng Jiamu
[sina] |
Peng was leading a scientific investigation across Lop Nur, when he was
reported missing after he sent a message to be rescued in search of drinking
water.
Xia Xuncheng, a former deputy to Peng, said yesterday,, "We're not sure about
the identity of the mummy, but it's really near the place where we lost Jiamu."
Xia, 72 years old, and his expedition team are scheduled
to leave their base in Dunhuang City, northwest Gansu Province, for a mission to
retrieve the mummy in the desert of Lop Nur, a former nuclear weapons experiment
site.
The note leaving by
Peng saying: "I'm going eastward for wells, Peng, at 10:30 June
17." [sina] |
Peng and his fellow scientists were stalled in June 1980 in the southeast
edge of Lop Nur, out of edible water and fuel. After asking for rescues via
telegram, Peng decided to look for water sources on his own. He left their camp
on June 17, leaving a note: "I'm going eastward for wells, Peng, at 10:30 June
17." He has never been heard from since.
Peng was born in 1925 and was the vice president of the Xinjiang Branch of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Another CAS scientist Dong Zhibao last winter reported he discovered the
mummy in an unrelated research voyage.
Xia quoted Dong as saying that there were no belongings scattered around the
mummy.
Xia said, "Jiamu wore furry shoes and took two cameras and a water bottle
with him while leaving the camp."
"If we are able to find any of this evidence," he said, "we might assume that
the mummy was Jiamu."
"But we still need to do some DNA matching," said Xia.