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DEIPHOLZ, GERMANY — It sounds like the stuff a little boy's dreams are made of, but for one German lad, the thrill of making an ancient discovery in a dusty attic became a reality.
Alexander, 10, found what appeared to be an archaic mummy hidden in a sarcophagus among other items in his deceased grandfather's attic in Deipholz, Germany, according to the nydailynews.com. The boy's father, Lutz-Wolfgang Kettler, said he suspects the mummy is a souvenir his father brought back from a trip to north Africa during the late 1950s.
Scientists are trying to unravel the mystery of just who the mummy was. An initial CT scan showed many various body parts out of place, leading experts to conclude the mummy may be a fake, more of a hodgepodge of parts than an entire corpse. The scan revealed an arrow coming out of the left eye socket and arms folded across the chest.
The bandages used to encase the mummy have not been removed for fear of damage. Kettler, who was present at the CT scan, said the cloths are machine woven and most likely date from the 20th century. Police and prosecutors are gathering information to determine whether or not foul play is suspected.
"We'll wait until we know how old the bones are," Diepholz police spokesperson Frank Bavendiek told the German news agency DPA. "If they are a few hundred years old, then it's a mummy and we won't investigate."
Top image credit: nydailynews.com