A hardened lover: the story of a man whose death and burial took 250 years (7 photos)

On that day far back in 1719 in an ordinary mining town Falun in Sweden went on as usual. While the miners who took over, did not stumble upon a strange find.





Human body. The young man looked like literally just died. But, in general, corpses are a common component of life, they do not surprise anyone. But this dead man seemed made of flesh and metal at the same time. Like every millimeter processed, applied the thinnest metal layer. This was not possible even a skilled craftsman, because even every single hair was him covered and dimly lustrous.



The management of the mine did not know what to do with the unusual find. The corpse was exhibited in a local museum, the visitors of which perceived an unusual exhibit as a miracle, believing that a man was even during his lifetime metallic. Almost like a Tin Woodman, only a miner.

Unraveling the Iron Man Mystery



Wax copy of Mats

One day, the grandchildren brought an elderly lady to the museum. Ta little stood in front of the exhibit, clutched her chest, because she recognized in finding his fiancé Mats Israelsson. About 40 years have passed since their last meeting.

The guy was in a hurry to go on a date with the bride, but he never showed up she has. They searched for Mats for some time. Gradually, the parents calmed down and reconciled, friends forgot about him, the girl married another. Probably, on the way he ran into dashing people, they dealt with Israelsson and threw the corpse into the mine.

Trials after death



Wax copy of Mats

In a good way, the deceased should have been interred, as well as supposed to. But the local authorities sensed a benefit for the city and decided wait. After all, those who wished to stare at the iron flocked to the museum. the miner is already from other countries.

Money doesn't smell. But the exhibit began. Since museum the workers had no idea how to properly store it. Metal layer under the action of air began to thin and evaporate, and organic matter - corny to decompose.

In 1749 the body was buried. But 10 years later they dug it up again and returned to their original place. In total, the unfortunate miner who and did not really have time to live, carried his posthumous service for about 70 years. Only in the 30s he was finally buried forever, leaving a wax copy.

Pseudomorphism as a phenomenon



But it turns out that the victim of an accidental murder is not the only one. such a case. There were other finds that were a combination organics and metals. In science, this phenomenon is known as pseudomorphism:

A crystal or mineral aggregate found in form unusual for this mineral, which repeats the form of another mineral or biological body. Pseudomorphosis is formed as a result replacement of one mineral by another while maintaining the external forms of the original mineral or other material or when filling with later minerals of voids formed during the dissolution of relatively more early crystals.






It is problematic to reproduce it in the laboratory - too expensive, long, and pointless. The incident with Mats went down in history precisely due to the scale of the process that engulfed the human body, and not the remains of a small animal, insect or shell.

And with what mineral would you like to partially replace your own cells, if there is such a possibility in reality?