Comprehensive interdisciplinary research of the clay coffin with a mummy from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The paper reports on comprehensive interdisciplinary study of a clay coffin with a mummy from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow (Inventory No. I, 1a 6122). The research was carried out in two key areas: assessment of authenticity of the coffin and the mummy. The authors' task was to determine the dating of the coffin and the mummy and reveal whether they are a single funeral assemblage. The following modern methods were used: thermoluminescent analysis of clay samples from the coffin, radiocarbon dating, micro-focus X-Ray and relevant anthropological analysis. During the study, it was found that the clay coffin is a fake dating back to about 100 years ago. The mummy, by contrast, is genuine and dates back to the late Predynastic period. It belongs to a 6-year-old child.