Polish scientists think they have a world first in their hands with the discovery of a pregnant mummy. Pregnancy was detected by a scan of the approximately 2000 year old body.
An archaeologist involved said that on X-rays she saw something familiar to her as the mother of three children: a small foot. Researchers later found that a fetus is in the body of the dead woman, which was supposedly in her 20s.
The research team speaks of a unique find. “We have not been able to find similar cases. This means that “our” mummy is the only one in the world where a fetus has been identified,” another participant in the project said.
The mummy was brought to Poland in the nineteenth century and is exhibited in a museum in Warsaw. Initially, it was thought to be the remains of a male clergyman who lived in the first century before or after Christ.
Scientists now take into account that the body is much older. The fetus would have been between 26 and 30 weeks old at the time the woman died. It is still unclear what exactly cost her her life. Researchers are hoping to find out.