Above: File photo shows the female mummy excavated from the Mawangdui Tombs in Hunan Province in 1972. The mummy, kept in Hunan Provincial Museum since its excavation, is said to be that of Xin Zhui, wife of the prime minister of the Changsha Kingdom during the early Western Han Dynasty, 2,000 years ago.  The mummified woman is  thought to have died at the age of 50.
Left: An artist's impression of how the woman may have looked when she was alive.

CHANGSHA: The bones of an ancient female mummy excavated from the Mawangdui Tombs in Central China more than 30 years ago, are starting to disintegrate.

According to Luo Xuegang, head of the human anatomy research centre with Xiangya Medical Sciences College, the bones of the female mummy of Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) have started to decalcify.

The discovery was made through a recent X-ray observation.

"The decalcification might be caused by the fluids used to preserve the body being too acid. We can adjust the pH to ensure the preservative fluid is neutral and does not erode the bones," said Luo, also head of a newly-established centre for research and protection of the mummy and other relics from the Mawangdui Tombs in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province.

Luo also said there have been changes in the sub-cellular structure of the mummy, but its collagenous fibres and blood vessels are still well preserved. The Mawangdui Tombs were excavated in 1972. In addition to the well-preserved body of a woman, more than 3,000 burial objects were also found at the site.

(China Daily 10/31/2005 page2)