The mermaid mummy was found in Japan and it is believed that it is not the only one of its kind, since the religious tradition in that nation is well known, which is dedicated to venerating these beings that supposedly have medicinal properties and there are even those who believe that those who eat their flesh can achieve immortality. But scientists have set out and through analysis of the strange 300-year-old being, they have finally managed to decipher the mystery behind it.
Japanese mermaid mummy
Supposedly the rare mermaid mummy specimen, it was captured in the Pacific Ocean between 1736 and 1741, off the coast of Shikoku. It is not known exactly how, but the mermaid mummy found its way to the Asakuchi temple, Okayama, where it was displayed for more than 40 years, until it was decided to protect it for conservation purposes. It was then that it ended up forgotten in the facility’s warehouse, but
“Japanese mermaids have a legend of immortality. It is said that if you eat the flesh of a mermaid, you will never die. There is a legend in many parts of Japan that says that a woman accidentally ate the meat of a mermaid and lived to be 800 years old,” Kinoshita explains.
The mermaid mummy found in Asakuchi quickly raised great intrigue among the community and also among various scientists. Although many believe in the veracity of the rare specimen of just 30 centimeters in size, the most objective have said that It could be the union of two bodies of different species to shape a mermaid.
The supposed mermaid has fluff on her head as hair, teeth and five fingers on each hand that cover her face as if she were drowning out a scream, in addition to her fish tail curled up. It has a very convincing appearance, although researchers believe that the hair, nails and teeth could have been of human origin and then embedded in the rare specimen. It is also believed that it may be a half-body of a monkey intentionally attached to that of a fish.
Science finally cracked the mystery behind the mermaid
Researchers from Kurashiki University decided to move the mermaid mummy to a CT scan room and DNA samples were taken to know its composition accurately. Finally the mystery behind the Japanese mermaid mummy was revealed.
CT scans and DNA tests suggest that the creature is completely fake. The bottom is a mixture of fish bones, possibly taken from a tail or dorsal fin. On the other hand, the jaw and teeth, the only bones that appear in the head, They belonged to a carnivorous fish. The arms, shoulders, neck and cheeks were deliberately constructed with cloth, cotton and They were covered with puffer fish skin
“Based on our analysis and the history of mummy creation in Japan, we can only conclude that the mermaid mummy was probably man-made,” Takafumi Kato, paleontologist at Kurashiki University of Sciences and Arts.