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Remains of woman who gave birth after death found in Finland

Maria Tsikhotska

Remains of woman who gave birth after death found in Finland
Archaeologists find remains of woman who gave birth after death

During archaeological excavations in Finland, scientists discovered the remains of a 24-year-old pregnant woman who, according to their findings, gave birth in a coffin. Tiina Vähre and her colleagues from the University of Oulu studied a private chapel and its burial chamber built in 1785 by a family of nobles in the community of Vihti in southern Finland. The building was used for burials from 1785 to 1829.

Fakty writes about it.

See also: Archaeologists in Spain found evidence that people performed skull surgery 4500 years ago (photo)

During the excavations, eight coffins were found, including the remains of an elderly woman and man, three adult women and two men, and one girl. Near the pelvis of one of the adult women, scientists found the bones of a fetus, with the skull protruding from the birth canal.

Measuring the length of the child's ulna showed that the pregnancy corresponded to 28-32 weeks. Scientists believe this to be an accidental fetal extrusion after death, a rare phenomenon caused by the decomposition of a deceased pregnant woman, when the pressure of internal gases can cause the fetus to be accidentally extruded after death.

The remains belonged to Charlotte Bjernram, who died on October 23, 1808, of inflammation at the age of 24 while pregnant. The fetus was partially expelled a few days after her death. The deceased was buried five and a half months after her death.

As a reminder, human remains 10,000 years old were discovered in Vietnam for the first time.

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