U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
Humour
NEWS > SCIENCE > 2000 YEAR OLD MUMMY’S ROOM DISCOVERED TO BE A TOTAL MESS
2000 YEAR OLD MUMMY’S ROOM DISCOVERED TO BE A TOTAL MESS
October 7 2011
Flores, Guatemala – Most people assume that the wealthy and elite are somehow better than the average person, almost separate species. From a strict observational perspective, it’s easy to see why. The wealthy and elite have a different culture, they dress differently, they eat different foods, and transport themselves in different ways.
Unlike the differences between species, though, that level of elite can theoretically be achieved by anyone, and when it is they realize how similar that lifestyle is to the average one.
The only possible exception to that rule comes in the form of royalty. After all, true royal standing cannot be achieved, it is given through birth and developed through an entire life. People in that rarefied air live their entire lives being elite, just as their parents and their parents have done. That makes them different, culturally unique, though sometimes they are still just human beings.
That is very much on display in Guatemala in the grave site of an ancient Queen, a Mayan Queen who died more than two-thousand years ago. Archaeologists digging in the area uncovered the site, finding a Queen buried amongst the many riches she accumulated in her life, and a whole lot of mess, just like ordinary people without servants to clean up after them. 
“We think this structure was something like a mausoleum for the royal lineage for at least 400 years,” said lead digger Wieslaw Koszkul. “She was buried beneath a much
younger tomb and decked out with an incredible array of riches, and a whole lot of other stuff lying around. Some of it is valuable and was in its time, but a lot of it is just junk, frankly, indicating that she may have been an early version of a hoarder.”
Amongst other findings were a whole lot of rats, both alive and dead, indicating that there might also have been food at the site.
The other tombs were found to much cleaner but rats from the bottom tomb had migrated upwards and caused a bit of a mess.
“This is really a rare find and a very exciting one. It shows much more clearly the burial rituals of the people in the region, undisturbed, and shows how far back those rituals date. It also shows how similar people were back then to people today, even the elite ruling class, and that really does speak to the human condition,” continued Koszkul. 
“We are used to finding messes in tombs and other sites and so this is no great deal for us. We are more excited than we are concerned about the messiness of the area. These types of things are just the types of things we encounter in this field of labour.”
The archaeologists have started carefully excavating the area, separating the treasure from the trash.
Amongst the treasures found at the site are slabs of jade with carving and ceremonial knives. Amongst the junk is a treasure trove of half-eaten sandwiches and large amount of paper that appears to have been crumpled up and tossed into the tomb before it was closed.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
NEWS > SCIENCE > 2000 YEAR OLD MUMMY’S ROOM DISCOVERED TO BE A TOTAL MESS
LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Science/pages-4/2000-year-old-mummys-room-discovered-to-be-a-total-mess-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html |
TWEET IT! http://goo.gl/m4OQl |
BOOKMARK IT!  
|
|---|
Scrape Store
