Mar 19, 2025
Self-Mummification
"Select 1 monster you control, and send it to the Graveyard."
seen from Malaysia
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seen from Germany
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seen from Malaysia
Self-Mummification
"Select 1 monster you control, and send it to the Graveyard."
Sokushinbutsu The practice of self-mummification, once performed by Buddhist monks in Japan. The monk would start by eating only nuts and seeds to strip them of their body fat, then move to drinking tea made from the urushi tree. The poisonous tea would cause vomiting to further their weight loss, as well as help dissuade insects from disturbing their body after death
Talon Abraxis
Self-made Sokushinbutsu and naturally occurring soap mummies are quite different than Egyptian pharaohs...
There's more than the Egyptian type...
Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Science in the News
Skeletal remains found at former homeless camp
Fort Worth police said "full skeletal remains" were found Saturday behind an abandoned elementary school. Read more at WFAA.com
Japan searches for Second World War soldiers' remains in sealed caves of Palau
On a remote coral island in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, officials have been inching through foliage littered with explosives to open up a network of sealed caves and search for thousands of bodies believed to have lain inside since the Second World War. Read more at the Telegraph.
Cambodia war crimes court charges another Khmer Rouge cadre (Via @CAHIDuod)
An international judge at a war crimes court in Cambodia charged another former Khmer Rouge cadre with crimes against humanity on Friday, in a further widening of its net of suspects in the tribunal's most sensitive cases yet. Read more at Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Remains of last Russian Emperor and family massacred in 1917 revolution could be exhumed amid doubts over their authenticity (Via @CAHIDuod)
Pressure is mounting in Moscow to exhume the bones of the tragic last Russian emperor and his family amid doubts expressed by the Russian Orthodox Church as to their authenticity. Read more at the Daily Mail.
Archaeology in the News
Medieval tomb uncovered in Nefyn church by archaeologists
The skeleton of a woman from the early medieval period has been found under a former church. Read more at the Daily Post.
Uncovering the plague pit beneath London's streets
London’s Bedlam Burial Ground looks almost like any other inner-city construction site. Workers in bright jackets and safety helmets mill purposefully about, comparing measurements and clearing earth. Read more at PRI.org.
Neolithic Bones in Italy’s Scaloria Cave Were Defleshed
The bones of at least 22 Neolithic people, many of them children, have been identified in Italy’s Scaloria Cave. The cave, located in southeastern Italy, is filled with stalactites and offers “the first well-documented case for early farmers in Europe of people trying to actively deflesh the dead,” John Robb of the University of Cambridge told Science Magazine. Read more at Archaeology.
Ancient Roman horse skeleton found under hotel site at Biomedical Campus in Cambridge
The skeleton of a horse thought to be from the Roman period has been discovered at the Biomedical Campus in Cambridge – three metres below ground with a broken leg. Read more at Cambridge News.
3D Printing Reconstructs Destroyed 685-Year-Old Tomb of Scottish King Robert the Bruce
(Via @Miss_Macabre) 3D printing has been making its mark in museums and historical institutions over the past couple of years. We’ve seen it used to virtually ‘back up’ museum artifacts, hence allowing visitors of these exhibits to touch and feel precise replicas of valuable relics. The technology also has allowed schools and other organizations and individuals around the world to 3D print their own replicas for study, without having to actually visit a particular museum which may be thousands of miles away. Read more at 3DPrint.com
China’s Stolen Monk Mummy Controversy Spurs Claims of Another
(Via @Miss_Macabre) A mummified monk encased in a Buddha statue that China claims was stolen from a village in eastern China a decade ago may not have been the only such mummy to go missing from the region. Read more at WSJ.
Bones of Scot set for reburial after grave robbery
THE 200-year-old bones of a Scots magistrate, partially dug up by grave robbers and scattered around a churchyard, are to be re-interred tomorrow. Read more at The Scotsman.
Body hunt at Newtongrange site of new homes (Via @Miss_Macabre)
The council has agreed to investigate the possibility of buried bodies at a historically significant site earmarked for new homes. Read more at the Midlothian Advertiser.
Argentine archaeologists probe 'Nazi hide-out' for clues
Archaeologists are trying to determine whether ruined buildings in a remote nature reserve in Argentina were built as a hide-out for German Nazi officers. Read more at BBC News.
Oldest evidence of breast cancer found in Egyptian skeleton
A team from a Spanish university has discovered what Egyptian authorities are calling the world's oldest evidence of breast cancer in the 4,200-year-old skeleton of an adult woman. Read more at Reuters.
Medieval monastic bones in Ipswich arthritis research approved
Scientists have been given the go-ahead to study 500-year-old human bones from Ipswich, which could help research into arthritis. Read more at BBC News.
13th century cist burial at Nefyn church, North Wales (Via @Miss_Macabre)
The underpinning of the church itself yielded the most exciting archaeological finds when monitoring works on the east side of the church. A series of large flat stones were found at a depth of a meter below the current church foundation level. Archaeologist Matt Jones of C.R Archaeology immediately recognised that these were more than likely the capping of a stone cist grave (a stone lined burial). Read more at British Archaeology News Resource.
Strange News
Human Bodies Glow, Proving That The World Is Weirder Than We Can Imagine
Morbid Fact of the Day
This is the body of Daijuku Bosatsu Shinnyokai-Shonin a Buddhist monk who was born in 1687 and endured the ritual of self-mummification at the age of 96 in 1783. Daijuku Bosatsu Shinnyokai Shonin became an ascetic monk at an early age in order to seek enlightenment and become a “Living Buddha.” When he was 96 years old, he restricted his diet to only salt and water, drank Urushi tea, and meditated in a stone tomb until he died. When his tomb was re-opened after 1000 days, Daijuku’s body was found to be preserved and he was given the status of “Living Buddha.” His mummified body is on display at the Ryusui-ji Dainichibou Temple in Tsuruoka City.