Project on Mawangdui Corpse Preservation Won Award Issued by State Administration of Cultural Heritage

A contest for "Award for 2009 Science and Technological Innovation on Cultural Relics Protection" was held by State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2010 to recognize the innovative achievements that had been made in the field of cultural relics protection since 2006. Themed on “innovation”, 43 academician experts with different professional backgrounds were invited to select 9 projects from the total 41 applications submitted from scientific research institutions of various circles of society all over China. Among which, “Project on Establishment and Application of Tri-level Preservation Model of Corpse Unearthed from Mawangdui” co-accomplished by Hunan Provincial Museum, Central South University and Hunan Mawangdui Corpse and Cultural Relics Protection Center won the Second Prize.

It is reported that the “tri-level preservation model” refers to the concept of preserving the cultural relics in the category of ancient corpse through “whole-cell-molecule” three levels by studying the preservation techniques of the female corpse unearthed from Mawangdui, the extremely rare wet body of Western Han Dynasty (206BC-25AC).  The application of this model successfully inhibits the bony tissues’ decalcification and protein degradation of ancient corpses and thereby strengthening the preservation of those bodies.

Experts say that what we’ve done is just an initial achievement and it remains a long road to fully realize the permanent preservation of ancient corpses. Daily effort should be made toward this direction by improving the lab building, developing and perfecting the molecular monitoring and regulating techniques, etc.