HUMAN-LIKE BEING
A story capable of plunging the scientific world, if not into shock, then at least into the deepest thoughts, began last summer. Konstantin Korotkov, a professor at the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO University), was then in the United States. He gave lectures, talked with his longtime acquaintance - the head of the Gaia film studio, which makes documentary popular science films. As a rule, about something mysterious. He offered to join the expedition, which went to Peru in the Nazca region. Scientists from the USA, France, Mexico and Peru proper were to get acquainted with the mummified remains found in one of the caves located in the mountains adjacent to the plateau. The documentary filmmakers had to capture all this.
Konstantin Georgievich accepted the invitation with enthusiasm. Since he had been to Peru before, he studied local ancient cultures and artifacts. I have been interested in it for a long time. Including the strange mummies that were found here. And the mummy, for which the expedition was equipped, was, according to rumors, not just strange - out of the ordinary.
The humanoid has an elongated skull, but not artificially drawn, but of natural origin.
“The rumors turned out to be true,” says Konstantin Korotkov. - We were immediately struck by something supernatural - something for which there has not yet been a reasonable explanation. Namely, the hands and feet of the mummy. They had three fingers each. Three very long fingers of inhuman proportions.
Of the amazing - a skull with an elongated occipital part. There seems to be nothing completely unexpected in him. Roughly the same skulls are found all over the world. Although there are more of them in Peru than anywhere else. For some reason, representatives of ancient cultures disfigured their heads - they pulled them back. Metamorphosis began at an early age - the heads were either bandaged or placed in special wooden blocks. What for? Maybe they imitated someone - in the sense of the shape of the head. Or they believed that more brains were placed in an elongated skull than in a normal one, and hoped to acquire some additional abilities. Who knows, suddenly they did appear, since the procedure was so widespread. Nobody checked it now.
It seems, however, that not all of the discovered skulls were artificially deformed. After the savage procedure of "squeezing out the brains", the seam that connects the bones of the skull remained - scientifically sagittal. All people have it. Some elongated turtles do not have this seam. Which leads to the idea: maybe they - these skulls - themselves had an unusual shape, which just tried to copy those deprived of it.
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So: there is no sagittal suture on the elongated skull of the mummy. There are no ears either - only small holes in the head in about the same places where the ears are in normal people.
In a word, due to the existing external differences, the language does not turn to call the creature a human. A humanoid mummy - such a definition was given to her by Professor Korotkov.
SIMPLY MARIA
Back in Peru - in the city of Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire, the mummies were X-rayed and performed computed tomography. Thanks to this, both the skeleton and the remains of internal organs were discovered. Quite human in appearance.
“We took samples of fabrics,” says Konstantin Korotkov, “some were brought to Russia, some were taken by foreign colleagues.
Radiocarbon dating was carried out in the USA. It showed: the mummies are about 1800 years old.
In Russia, the laboratory for prenatal diagnosis of hereditary and congenital human diseases of the St. Petersburg Federal Medical Genetic Center and the Department of Genetics of the St. Petersburg State University joined the research. Here we started to analyze DNA.
Radiographs and tomograms were studied at the St. Petersburg State Medical University and at the Berezin Medical and Biological Center.
Chemical analysis was carried out at the Center for Analytical Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University.
- It's nice that our colleagues willingly agreed to cooperate, - emphasizes the professor.
Genetic analysis showed: the DNA of the mummy is human, female. As soon as this became known, the creature received the name Maria.
From the chemical analysis it followed that the elemental composition of the tissues of Mary's body corresponds to that of a human. But there is still a strange thing: an increased content of cadmium chloride in the skin. This substance has strong bactericidal properties. Does not occur in nature. It can be obtained exclusively by artificial means.
According to scientists, the mummy was rubbed with this very cadmium chloride. It turns out that those who buried Mary almost 2 thousand years ago were grounded both chemically and medically. At least they knew about the disinfecting property of the substance and knew how to get it.
The mummy was all sprinkled with some kind of white powder and looked like a plaster statue. Scientists have found: the powder is diatomite (calcified remains of blue-green algae). But very finely ground.
Diatomite occurs naturally as a mineral. To grind it into powder requires a very advanced technology. For example, modern ball mills. And they ground a huge amount of diatomite. They, according to the person who found the mummy, covered the entire cave.
From the tomograms it followed that Maria was 168 centimeters tall - slightly taller than the women of that time and that area on average. Body proportions are the most common. So the mummy is still human?
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY
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