(ORDO NEWS) — The mysterious and creepy “mummy of a mermaid”, which has been stored in a Japanese temple for a long time, turned out to be an original, but artificially created object.
Despite this, the ancient artifact will remain a valuable asset of the temple, as local residents believe in the supernatural power of the mummy.
Japanese researchers, using high-tech equipment, have come to a conclusion about the origin of the “mermaid mummy”, which is a landmark in one of the Japanese temples in Okayama Prefecture.
A year-long scientific analysis revealed that the centuries-old creature is largely a man-made object made up of paper, cloth, cotton and other components.
In addition, the “mermaid” turned out to be much younger than according to the legend.
With the help of modern equipment, it was established that in fact this “mermaid” is not nearly 300 years old, as was previously believed, but about 140 years old.
The analysis showed that this mummy was created by an unknown author at the end of the 19th century. The researchers tried to conduct a DNA analysis, but no DNA was found in this “mermaid”.
Research has shown that mermaids do have real biological parts.
For example, the lower part of the body contains the bones of the tail and dorsal fins of Sciaenidae fish, and the jaw of the mummy belonged to a predatory fish.
But no large bones were found in the spine or chest. The inner part of the body consists mainly of cloth, paper and cotton.
The head is also almost entirely made of cotton, gypsum and similar materials, the researchers note.
The 30-centimeter-long mummy belongs to Enjuin Temple in Asakuchi, Okayama Prefecture.
She was found in a box with a note that read: “The mermaid was caught in a fishing net off the coast of Tosa Province (modern Kochi Prefecture) between 1736 and 1741.”
How exactly this mummy got to the temple is still unknown.
The head priest of the Enjuin temple, 61-year-old Kozen Kuida, after reading the results of the study, said that the mermaid mummy will continue to be a valuable asset of the temple.
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