Skeletons Draped in Jewels Preserved for Centuries

Sure, we’ve all heard of and seen mummies. After all, people have been preserving bodies throughout time and across cultures. Finding a preserved skeleton draped in jewels, gold and silver, however, is unusual — but it happened to art historian Paul Koudounaris, who photographed dozens of such relics. The images will appear in a book scheduled for release in early October.

“The skeletons are about 2,000 years old,” Koudounaris told Weather.com. “They were taken out of the Roman catacombs...These were sacred objects.”

After being left to decay in the Roman catacombs, Koudounaris’ subjects were exhumed, decorated and sent to homes and churches in European towns in the 16th century, according to The Huffington Post. But before they could be decorated, they had to be preserved.

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