What really happened to the "Mermaid Mummy" that was said to be 300 years old and "captured in the Pacific Ocean"?
The so-called mummified mermaid revered in Japan has been shown to be nothing more than a fabric made of cloth, paper, and cotton embellished with various pieces of fish.
It is said that the monster was captured in the Pacific Ocean near the island of Shikoku in Japan between the years 1736 and 1741, and it may now be seen at a temple located in Asakuchi.
But the researchers had a sneaking suspicion that it was really the upper body of a primate with the tail end of a fish grafted onto it, so they decided to do a CT scan on the artifact to find out the truth.
In reality, most of the upper torso was made of fabric, paper, and cotton, except for the arms, shoulders, neck, and cheeks, which were made of pufferfish skin.
The creature's hair came from a species of mammal, its nails were made from animal keratin, and its jaws came from a species of meat-eating fish that hasn't been named yet.
Even though there is no sign of a skeleton inside, there are metal needles in the lower body and the back of the neck.
Sand or charcoal powder was combined in a material similar to paste and then used to paint the body's surface.
During the investigation, the relic was photographed with X-rays, scanned with CT technology, looked at with fluorescence X-rays, and its DNA was tested. It was also given a radiocarbon date.
According to Hiroshi, the relic was most likely manufactured to capitalize on the widespread interest in mermaids in Japan.
Most likely, mermaid mummies were made in different parts of Japan as a show or to be sent to other countries
At first, Kinoshita had a sneaking suspicion that the item had been created at some point during the Edo period of Japanese history, which lasted from 1603 all the way up to 1867.
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