The 2,100-year-old Lady Dai

Lady Dai, also known as Xin Zhui, died around 163 BCE and despite being over 2,000 years old, she was amazingly preserved when she was discovered in 1971 at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha, China.

The tomb of Lady Dai reflected her status as the wife of Li Cang, the Marquis of Dai, during the Han Dynasty, with more than 1,000 artifacts and documents, buried with her.

1. A wax sculpture reconstruction of Xin Zhui. 2. The preserved body of Xin Zhui.

But the most amazing thing about Lady Dai was that her skin was still soft and moist, her limbs were still flexible, her hair was intact, and her internal organs were still in place.

This exceptional preservation is attributed to the burial methods used, which included sealing her coffin in airtight layers of charcoal and clay, which helped prevent decay.

 

An autopsy of her body revealed intact organs, blood clots, and evidence of a heart attack when she died at age 50. And that she had suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones and diabetes.

Xin Zhui (Chinese: 辛追), also known as lady Dai, was the wife of the Marquess Li Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the imperial fiefdom of Changsha during the Han Dynasty. Her corpse was found in 1971 near the city of Changsha.

The silk clothing, lacquerware, musical instruments, earliest versions of Daoist texts and foods buried with Lady Dai, may have been intended to provide for her afterlife.

The airtight tomb was found 12 meters underground, enclosed in four layers of coffins, wrapped in silk, and immersed in an unknown mildly acidic liquid with magnesium, creating a sterile environment.