The Interesting Thread 2017 - Mudlarking in the Thames

[rinks]

Right, so grapes have DNA now, do they? Ridiculous.

[Igor]

Right, so grapes have DNA now, do they? Ridiculous.

...yes?

[Starbreaker]

Right, so grapes have DNA now, do they? Ridiculous.

...yes?

I bet you're the same sort of idiot that thinks alcohol is a kind of drug.

[Igor]

Right, so grapes have DNA now, do they? Ridiculous.

...yes?

I bet you're the same sort of idiot that thinks alcohol is a kind of drug.

Nah mate, it's a drink innit.

Seriously though, we did grape DNA extraction in A Level biology. Was rinks being hilarious, or have I missed something?

[False]

I think maybe he was being retarded.

[Starbreaker]

Seriously though, we did grape DNA extraction in A Level biology. Was rinks being hilarious, or have I missed something?

He was joking. Even though he's not funny, ever.

[rinks]

Yeah? Well at least I haven't got VD.

[Alvin Flummux]

It looks more like a giant vagina to me...

How does that make you feel?

Amused.

[Captain Kinopio]

Interesting stuff, nice one Hulohot.

Will look forward to the next one.

[Hulohot]

Part 2- The Guanajutano Mummies

Spoilered for creepy.

The Mummies of Guanajuato are a number of naturally mummified bodies interred during a cholera outbreak around Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico in 1833. These mummies were discovered in a cemetery located in Guanajuato, which has made the city one of the biggest tourist attractions in Mexico.

They are accidental modern mummies and were literally "dug up" between the years 1865 and 1958 when a local law required relatives to pay a kind of grave tax. You could pay the tax once (170 pesos) and be done with it; this option may have appealed to wealthier individuals. But you were also allowed to pay a yearly fee (50 pesos); this would have appealed to less wealthy families. However, if the relatives could not pay this yearly tax for three years, the body (which had, by the way, become accidentally mummified) was dug up from the cemetery and (if the fee still wasn't paid) placed on display in El museo de las momias.





Above right: This museum is known to have the smallest mummy in the world, a fetus from a pregnant woman who fell victim to cholera.

The Guanajuato mummies are some of the strangest ones ever placed on display. Some of the mummies are displayed standing up.Some are clothed, some aren't. A few are wearing only their socks and/or shoes. Some are old, others are only infants. One tiny baby mummy is labeled, "La momia más pequeño del mundo"--the smallest mummy in the world. The baby and the mother (they died during a caesarean section) are in the museum, but they will not be found together.





Above left: In some cases due to trying to control the spread of cholera, the dying were buried alive by accident. As a result, some of the mummies have horrific expressions attesting to their death in the tombs, though most expressions became fixed postmortem. Above right: The remains of a Dr. Remigio Leroy, , perfectly preserved by the dry conditions. Many of the mummies still have their hair, teeth and nails.

The museum contains a few local legends as well. For example, one body was said to belong to a woman who had been buried alive called Ignacia Aguilar. When the Mummy Road Show hosts researched the mummy, they concluded that two factors suggested this legend was correct: the woman's arms were raised over her face and her forehead had scratch marks.



Above: Ignacia Aguilar was suspected to have been buried alive.

These mummies are pretty creepy, all the more disturbing considering they are really very recent.

Sources:

http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/ ... ajuato.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummies_of_Guanajuato
http://accidentalmummies.com/about-the-exhibit.php

Coming next: God knows what.

[Cuttooth]

Okay now this is interesting. And really strawberry floated up to boot.

[Balloon Sod]

That woman buried alive and biting her wrist to bleed to death is pretty disturbing.

[False]

Theyre strawberry floatin awesome.

[Something Fishy]

I see absolutely no reason why this couldn't be the real ark and that the story isn't largely true. I'd go into more depth, but Carlos has summed up everything I would have said.

I think a lot of the stories in the Bible are things that have happened, but the stories have been distorted and twisted as they have been passed down between people for generations.

Yep, totally agree. I'd include the story of Jesus in that. I'm certain this prophet Joshua existed and said a lot of the things attributed to him. The fact that a council 400 years later decided to ignore the bulk of books written about him, make him devine, the son of a virgin (and various other traits of Mithras) makes his history less believable but i'm certain he was there and much ofthe bible are real histories of real people and places embellished over time.

[Crimson]

That is some seriously strawberry floated up gooseberry fool.

Keep 'em coming Hulohot, this thread is great.

[Captain Kinopio]

That is some seriously strawberry floated up gooseberry fool.

That is going to haunt me, seriously disturbed stuff

[Hulohot]

They scared me too.

If anyone else has anything interesting to post that would be great.

[Psychic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia%2C_Pennsylvania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_pass_accident
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly-Hopk ... _encounter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_liath

[Hulohot]

I recalled my visit to the Paris catacombs, seeing walls made of bones, and it reminded me of the Cracked article on creepy places and the Bone Church featured. So I decided to make part 3 about:

Part 3: Bone Churches

Bone churches, more accurately called "ossuaries," exist in several countries in Europe, and can consist of everything from piles of decorated skulls to pieces of wall art made up of various human bones and bodies.



The walls of this series of small chapels in Rome’s Capuchin Cryptare are entirely decorated with the bones of Capuchin monks.
The crypt features the bones of more than 4,000 monks who died between 1528 and 1870. There are six small chapels in the Capuchin Crypt, and all but one is creatively adorned with bones. Furthermore, some of the bone-covered chapels feature predominantly one particular bone. For instance, there’s a "Crypt of the Leg Bones and Thigh Bones" and a "Crypt of the Pelvises."



The above picture is from the Capela dos Ossos in Evora, Portugal. The very walls of the chapel have bones in them, with cement holding everything together. Even the pillars supporting the ceiling have skulls running up and down them. Estimates are that there are roughly 5,000 bodies whose skeletons are represented in the chapel, and if that’s not macabre enough for you there are also two bodies hanging from chains – one is of a monk, one of them is that of a child.



Once again, the Palermo catacombs got their start in the late 16th century when the monks ran out of space in the cemetery. The climate in the underground space turned out to be ideal for preserving bodies, such that even some of the oldest skeletons in the catacombs still have some skin and hair left on them.

The last body to be placed in the catacombs was that of a two-year-old girl called Rosalia Lombardo, who remains so lifelike today that she looks like she could wake up from her nap any second and run outside to play – except she died in 1920. Rosalia’s body was perfectly preserved thanks to an embalming method which was, at the time, revolutionary. The specific formula was lost for decades, but was recently rediscovered – and what’s more, it still works.

The disturbing image of Roaslia is spoilered.

Ossuary display in the Kaplica Czaszek, Kudowa-Zdrój, Poland





Above: Some visitors find the Capucin crypt terrifying, while others are absolutely fascinated. And everyone asks about the purpose of this macabre display, which is to remind the living of the delicacy and tenuous nature of life. Thus, the crypt functions as a momento mori on the grandest scale and its purpose is reinforced by an inscription placed near the mummified remains of one monk, which reads:

“Quello che voi siete noi eravamo,
Quello che noi siamo voi sarete.”
[What you are now we were, What we are you will be]



Above: Death's head chapel in Sedlec, Czech Republic. Over 40,000 bodies are represented by the bones in this bone church. Most of the dead fell to a plague in the 14th century.


Sources:

http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-05 ... urope.html
http://www.outsideprague.com/kutna_hora ... hurch.html
Google Image results

Coming next, and probably last: Something a lot less morbid I hope.

[Balloon Sod]

Imagine trying to clean that.