Death becomes her.
March 6, 2011 6:30 AM Subscribe
"When [700] hundred years old *you* reach, look as good *you* will not, hmm? " Face of incredibly preserved 700-year-old mummy found by chance by Chinese road workers.
"Death becomes her."
You might want to be aware, Fizz, that there's never been a woman that has responded to that statement in a positive manner.
posted by tomswift at 6:43 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
You might want to be aware, Fizz, that there's never been a woman that has responded to that statement in a positive manner.
posted by tomswift at 6:43 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
You might want to be aware, Fizz, that there's never been a woman that has responded to that statement in a positive manner.
She's dead though, what is she going to...haunt me?!
posted by Fizz at 6:45 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
She's dead though, what is she going to...haunt me?!
posted by Fizz at 6:45 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
No but Goldie Hawn will smash your head in with a shovel.
posted by The Whelk at 6:57 AM on March 6, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:57 AM on March 6, 2011 [7 favorites]
Them's some stylin' booties she's wearing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:00 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:00 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Read my comment more carefully, Fizz, slowly, think about it, keep your fingers off the keyboard.
posted by tomswift at 7:02 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by tomswift at 7:02 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Daily Fail
posted by The Thnikkaman at 7:08 AM on March 6, 2011
posted by The Thnikkaman at 7:08 AM on March 6, 2011
Them's some stylin' booties she's wearing.
I especially like how the soles appear to be made of 700-year-old Dr Scholl's odor eaters.
posted by elizardbits at 7:12 AM on March 6, 2011 [9 favorites]
I especially like how the soles appear to be made of 700-year-old Dr Scholl's odor eaters.
posted by elizardbits at 7:12 AM on March 6, 2011 [9 favorites]
And the coffin was opened earlier this week, on March 1, much to the excitement of the local city - and further afield. And the right hand of the 700-year-old mummy showed her preserved skin, and a ring.
Daily Mail uses Markov Chains to generate articles?
posted by slater at 7:14 AM on March 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
Daily Mail uses Markov Chains to generate articles?
posted by slater at 7:14 AM on March 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
Thanks for this. She reminds me of the Lady of Dai, a plump, well-preserved Chinese noblewoman of approximately 145 BC, who is not looking at her best* on display here but who was amazingly lifelike on her discovery. It was even possible to analyze her last meal -- she enjoyed melons.
-----
* And by that I mean "nightmare-inducing and against God."
posted by Countess Elena at 7:52 AM on March 6, 2011
-----
* And by that I mean "nightmare-inducing and against God."
posted by Countess Elena at 7:52 AM on March 6, 2011
there is now an exhibition of bodies, cast from the "remains" at Pompeii site in Italy, in NYCity.
We seem endlessly fascinated by human remains, bodies. Here is a very nice article dealing with the subject (I will be posting this tomorrow at my site)...
Plasticize Me
posted by Postroad at 7:53 AM on March 6, 2011
We seem endlessly fascinated by human remains, bodies. Here is a very nice article dealing with the subject (I will be posting this tomorrow at my site)...
Plasticize Me
posted by Postroad at 7:53 AM on March 6, 2011
We seem endlessly fascinated by human remains, bodies.
Is it the bodies or the glimpse into a long ago culture and society that fascinates us. I always struggle with finds and exhibits like this because while on the one hand I value the history, knowledge, and insight we gain into another culture and time...on the other we're essentially grave-robbing and disturbing someone else's tradition and culture of burial/mourning.
posted by Fizz at 8:10 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is it the bodies or the glimpse into a long ago culture and society that fascinates us. I always struggle with finds and exhibits like this because while on the one hand I value the history, knowledge, and insight we gain into another culture and time...on the other we're essentially grave-robbing and disturbing someone else's tradition and culture of burial/mourning.
posted by Fizz at 8:10 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
If she was so high-ranking, why did they bury her beside a road? EH?
posted by mendel at 8:18 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mendel at 8:18 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
It is not only old old budies and remains which fascinate us but rather bodies in general, as in this exhibit that has been attracting many many folks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm2xyiqVpkg
posted by Postroad at 8:37 AM on March 6, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm2xyiqVpkg
posted by Postroad at 8:37 AM on March 6, 2011
She's aged well: Face of incredibly preserved 700-year-old mummy found by chance by Chinese road workers
Awful wording on the headline. Did they find her body or just her face?
posted by scalefree at 8:39 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Awful wording on the headline. Did they find her body or just her face?
posted by scalefree at 8:39 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
In 700 years is someone going to be excited to dig my ass up?
I think I'll have "put me back" tattooed to my forehead when I die. It'll be in my will.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:47 AM on March 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
I think I'll have "put me back" tattooed to my forehead when I die. It'll be in my will.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:47 AM on March 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
In the same room are the much more recent Han mummies - equally interesting, but rendering the display confusing, as it groups all the mummies closely together. Which makes sound political sense.
Chinese mummies can have political implications.
A display of much older mummies from Western China was recently the subject of controversy when, the day before the exhibit was meant to open at Penn, China suddenly withdrew its consent for the display. Chinese officials cited some official regulations (that they had apparently ignored in earlier planning), but many speculated that it was due to sensitivity over the mummies' Western features and the possibility the mummies' circumstances might lend support to the idea that Xinjiang isn't necessarily a historically Chinese region. After negotiation the Chinese government finally consented to a more temporally limited display of the mummies and associated artifacts.
Anyone in the Philly area should totally go see the mummies (before March 15th, when the exhibit shuts down), if they're into that sorta thing!
Anyway, I don't know what this means for the lady in the FPP - maybe nothing - but it's the context with which I view the post.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:10 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Chinese mummies can have political implications.
A display of much older mummies from Western China was recently the subject of controversy when, the day before the exhibit was meant to open at Penn, China suddenly withdrew its consent for the display. Chinese officials cited some official regulations (that they had apparently ignored in earlier planning), but many speculated that it was due to sensitivity over the mummies' Western features and the possibility the mummies' circumstances might lend support to the idea that Xinjiang isn't necessarily a historically Chinese region. After negotiation the Chinese government finally consented to a more temporally limited display of the mummies and associated artifacts.
Anyone in the Philly area should totally go see the mummies (before March 15th, when the exhibit shuts down), if they're into that sorta thing!
Anyway, I don't know what this means for the lady in the FPP - maybe nothing - but it's the context with which I view the post.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:10 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Brown liquid?
posted by Wanderlust88 at 9:13 AM on March 6, 2011
posted by Wanderlust88 at 9:13 AM on March 6, 2011
Just a few days after revealing that the average living person is a 28 year old Chinese man, famed website MetaFilter has announced that the typical dead person is a 700 year old Chinese woman.
"We gotta get these two together," said MetaFilter founder Matt Howie, a 56 year old Chinese web developer. "Then, I will raise the product of their unholy union as my own son."
Several other "typical" things have also been revealed to be Chinese by MeFi, including Lady Gaga's sexuality and the future geopolitical environment. But some complain that Gaga does not, in fact, represent the real China. A website called Gays Against Ghanzhou has been established to protest against this very comment.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:00 AM on March 6, 2011 [5 favorites]
"We gotta get these two together," said MetaFilter founder Matt Howie, a 56 year old Chinese web developer. "Then, I will raise the product of their unholy union as my own son."
Several other "typical" things have also been revealed to be Chinese by MeFi, including Lady Gaga's sexuality and the future geopolitical environment. But some complain that Gaga does not, in fact, represent the real China. A website called Gays Against Ghanzhou has been established to protest against this very comment.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:00 AM on March 6, 2011 [5 favorites]
It is amazing how well preserved the textiles are. Those shoes look brand new. Impressive.
posted by evening at 10:51 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by evening at 10:51 AM on March 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can we get a NSFW claim on the Mail in general? I have to look people in the eye, you know.
posted by jaduncan at 11:31 AM on March 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jaduncan at 11:31 AM on March 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
for myself, I find this stuff very fascinating but I dont think its about "bodies" so much as a rare and wonderful glimpse into the past. to see such well preserved features, textiles etc., is incredible!
posted by supermedusa at 11:43 AM on March 6, 2011
posted by supermedusa at 11:43 AM on March 6, 2011
I always struggle with finds and exhibits like this because while on the one hand I value the history, knowledge, and insight we gain into another culture and time...on the other we're essentially grave-robbing and disturbing someone else's tradition and culture of burial/mourning.
If someone ever digs me up, I will haunt their ass for eternity.
posted by emeiji at 11:59 AM on March 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
If someone ever digs me up, I will haunt their ass for eternity.
posted by emeiji at 11:59 AM on March 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
I will haunt their ass for eternity.
....kind of like a ghostly fart?
posted by elizardbits at 2:03 PM on March 6, 2011
....kind of like a ghostly fart?
posted by elizardbits at 2:03 PM on March 6, 2011
As fascinating as this discovery is, I can't help but wonder at what point it's okay to excavate the graves of the dead. Will she be reburied in a fitting manner, or shuttled back and forth between various research laboratories? What effect will removing her from the brown liquid have on her preservation?
posted by archagon at 2:49 PM on March 6, 2011
posted by archagon at 2:49 PM on March 6, 2011
Those booties look comfy; I want to get a pair just like them.
posted by bwg at 4:58 PM on March 6, 2011
posted by bwg at 4:58 PM on March 6, 2011
I can't help but wonder at what point it's okay to excavate the graves of the dead
Once it's been long enough that no-one knows you're there and they've already dug up everything around you for a road: that point.
Besides there's a long history of digging up the dead when you need the space for something else. What do they care? They're dead.
posted by mendel at 5:52 PM on March 6, 2011
Once it's been long enough that no-one knows you're there and they've already dug up everything around you for a road: that point.
Besides there's a long history of digging up the dead when you need the space for something else. What do they care? They're dead.
posted by mendel at 5:52 PM on March 6, 2011
At 1.5m, she's just shy of 5' - seems rather tall for a woman from that era. Good (better) and/or genetics? Or my misconception about average heights 700 years ago? (googling for average women's heights in medieval europe suggests that Western people in general weren't much shorter than they are now...)
I, too, am intrigued by what the "brown liquid" consists of. Presumably something promoting an anoxic environment but with a neutral pH, to preserve the silk/cotton?
bwg - google fails me, but I swear I've seen shoes in that style at (Vancouver's) Chinatown. iirc, they looked kinda cheap (costume clothing rather than everyday wear functional clothing), though.
posted by porpoise at 6:48 PM on March 6, 2011
I, too, am intrigued by what the "brown liquid" consists of. Presumably something promoting an anoxic environment but with a neutral pH, to preserve the silk/cotton?
bwg - google fails me, but I swear I've seen shoes in that style at (Vancouver's) Chinatown. iirc, they looked kinda cheap (costume clothing rather than everyday wear functional clothing), though.
posted by porpoise at 6:48 PM on March 6, 2011
« Older You are wrong because you use the fallacy wrong | "We never forget who we're working for" Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by condour75 at 6:43 AM on March 6, 2011 [13 favorites]