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American History

19th Century Woman Mummified Inside the Airtight Metallic Case

Martha Peterson - Coffin

Slaves in a cotton field. The Daily Beast.

13. Was She Free?

Researchers knew the mummified woman must have been born sometime during the early 19th century. She must have died between 1840 and 1850 to have been buried in one of Almond Fisk’s iron coffins. Based on her bones, she likely wasn’t older than 30, placing her birth roughly between 1810 and 1825. To determine if she was born a free woman or had found freedom during her lifetime, researchers would need to find a way to figure out where she had been born.

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