Mummies from across the globe date back as far as 7,000 years ago. But while some mysteries have been solved, others remain objects of curiosity and wonder. Here we look at six of the strangest
Ancient mummies have been fascinating people for centuries and inspired many tales and movies â but they donât just come from ancient Egypt.
There are examples all over the world and the oldest, the Chinchorro mummies from Chile, date back 7,000 years.
But now archaeologists say the bodies buried in the Atacama Desert are being exposed by increased wind and rain from climate change.
Meanwhile, there remain plenty of other mummy mysteries to be uncovered. Here we lift the lid on some of them.
The Mummy of Ramses II (Image: De Agostini via Getty Images)
The Pharaohâs curse
It is nearly 100 years since British archaeologist Howard Carter found the long-lost tomb of Ancient Egyptian âBoy Kingâ Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings.
But, soon after his astonishing find in 1922, stories arose the Brit and his team had unleashed the fabled Curse Of The Pharaohs, as many of those á´ssociated with the dig Âappeared to die.
His financial backer, Lord Carnarvon, pá´ssed away from an Âinfected mosquito bite weeks after entering the tomb and his dog dropped á´ á´á´á´ too.
By 1929 some 22 people involved had died, including the man who X-rayed King Tutâs mummy, from a mysterious illness, plus an American millionaire shortly after a visit to the site.
The tomb of Tutankhamon was found in 1922 (Image: Getty Images)
Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was convinced that the supernatural was at work.
Some scientists suggested bacteria from the tomb was responsible, but sceptics said the deaths were simply Âcoincidence. Carter, who died aged 64 in 1939, called talk of a curse âtommyrotâ.
But in 2021 the blocking of the Suez Canal by the cargo ship Ever Given, a fatal train accident and fires across the country were blamed on the curse as they coincided with a procession of 22 mummies from one museum to another.
The missing mummies
King Tut, who ruled Egypt between 1332 and 1323 BC, died aged 20 but just how has puzzled historians.
A lost piece of skull suggests he may have been Âmurdered, while other theories include everything from malaria to a chariot accident.
Where his own actual mummy lies also remains a mystery. Queen NeferŃΚŃi (possibly his step mum) was the beautiful wife of and co-ruler with his father Akhenaten.
But while many mummies of Tutâs relatives have been found, the tomb of NeferŃΚŃi, who mysteriously disappeared from the records before her death in around 1340, remains elusive.
Adding to the puzzle is that when Âarchaeologists found Akhenatenâs tomb his mummified body was missing. One bizarre theory was that he was moved in a cover-up over his alien origins.
A portrait of an Egyptian Queen, thought to be NeferŃΚŃi (Image: Alamy Stock PHŕšĎo)
The screaming mummy
In 1886, archaeologists made a chilling discovery while working at the Deir el-Bahari mortuary temples in Egypt â a mummy with a fixed scream, as if they had died in agony.
It was buried near other ancient royals, but while they were found in white linen this body was bound in leather and sheepskin and left with its internal organs â a sign they had been considered âuncleanâ. For years experts were baffled as to how âUnknown Man Eâ had perished, speculating he had been poisoned.
But recent analysis of marks on the mummyâs neck suggests hanging. Adding to the intrigue is that DNA taken from its tooth revealed that the mummy may have been Pentawere, the son of the pharaoh Ramesses III.
Pentawere is believed to have been Âinvolved in a plot to murder his father in 1155BC. Weirdly, Ramessesâ own body did not apparently show any wounds until a CT scan of his mummy in 2012 revealed a slit to his throat and that a big toe had been cut off.
But many questions about just how the pair died and how the âscreamâ came about remain unanswered.
The âScreaming Mummyâ otherwise known as âUnknown Man Eâ (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
âAdidasâ trainers
A weird mummy was found some 10,000 feet up in Mongoliaâs remote Altai Âmountains back in 2016.
Archaeologists identified it as a woman who had died more than 1,000 years ago and the body had been well Âpreserved thanks to the low temperatures.
What made the discovery so strange was she appeared to be wearing a pair of shoes very similar to red Adidas trainers with the brandâs distinctive three white stripes.
Experts say she died, aged between 30 and 40, from a mystery head wound.
Her shoes are similar to Adidas trainers (Image: The Mongolian Observer/The Cente)
The cocaine mummies
When the remains of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled Egypt between 1279 and 1213 BC, were analysed in the 1970s Âscientists made startling findings in the mummyâs fabric.
They showed evidence of cannabis, cocoa and tobacco. Analysis of other mummies from the era even turned up Âcocaine inside their bodies.
These substances were all from plants in the Americas not discovered by Europeans until Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. Cross-contamination was ruled out, leaving the bizarre possibility that somehow there had been trade Âbetween the continents 3,000 years earlier.
âAlienâ mummies
Six unusual mummified bodies from the 5th century were found in 2017 inside a tomb in Nazca, Peru.
They had three fingers and elongated heads, leading some to say they were proof of aliens. Dr Konstantin Korotkov from Saint Petersburg University, claimed the features might well be of âanother creature, another humanoidâ.