Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Archaeologists in Poland are finally solving an over 2,000-year-old mummy mystery. After modern warfare erased vital information about the ancient Egyptian child, researchers were unsure about the boy’s origins and life. Now, they’ve discovered a striking detail while examining the delicate remains—a once-hidden ritual object resting on the boy’s chest. Their findings published in the journal Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage are now helping fill in the gaps of our understanding of ancient burial practices, while also underscoring how much is left to learn about the complex art of Egyptian mummification. The child’s precise origins are an unfortunate casualty of war. Although the mummy has remained a part of the Archdiocesan Museum in the city of Wrocław since 1914, its records were lost during World War II. The well-preserved body remained in the museum’s archives for decades, but archaeologists only began a first comprehensive analysis in 2023. Led by historian Agata Kubala at the University of Wrocław, …