Mummies in China: Mawangdui and other related mummies

This chapter discusses four ancient Chinese mummies found in tombs of the Warring States and Western Han period from archaeological, cultural-historical, and medical perspectives. The most famous is the first, Western Han period female mummy excavated in 1972 from Tomb no. 1 at the Mawangdui site, Changsha city, Hunan province. Since the three Mawangdui Han tombs were found in extraordinary condition, many studies on the mummies themselves as well as various funerary artifacts have been carried out to understand still mostlyhidden, ancient Chinese culture. In 1975, another mummy of the Western Han period, a male, was excavated from Tomb no. 168 at the Phoenix Hill site, Jiangling, Hubei province. The second female mummy was discovered in 1994 from Tomb no. 1 of the Guojiagang site, Jingmen region, Hubei province, which was thought to have been constructed in the Warring States period. This female mummy was the oldest mummy ever discovered in mainland China. In 2002, the third female mummy ofWestern Han period was excavated from Tomb no. M1 at the Double Dragon Tomb Site, Lianyungang city, Jiangsu province. This chapter summarizes the discoveries and academic research on these four ancient Chinese mummies as well as precious tomb artifacts such as lacquerware and fabrics. These four ancient Chinese tombs were found to have similar structures: they were covered with a thick kaolin clay layer, and contained lacquered wooden coffins in very deep ground soil. These characteristic structural features might be one of the most important factors affecting the near-perfect long-term preservation of those ancient mummies and organic artifacts.