A 2,710-Year-Old Birth: Skeleton’s Coffin Secret

The shocking mystery of the woman who gave birth after dying, revealed!

In 2010, during excavations in Imola, near Bologna, in northern Italy, archaeologists made a surprising discovery: the remains of a woman between 25 and 35 years old, dating back 1,300 years, which had a strange hole in the top of the skull. The most intriguing thing was discovering fragments of fetal bones between the woman’s femurs, showing that she had given birth to her baby after dying.

A strange phenomenon: the “birth in a coffin”

The skeleton of the fetus was in an unusual position: its head and torso were between the mother’s thighs, while its legs remained inside the pelvic cavity. After detailed analysis, scientists concluded that the woman died during pregnancy and that the fetus was expelled posthumously, a phenomenon known as “coffin birth” or “postmortem extrusion.” This strange process occurs due to gases accumulated during the decomposition of the body, which generate pressure and simulate contractions that expel the baby.

Why did the mother die? A failed surgery could be the key

A study carried out by the universities of Ferrara and Bologna, published in 2018, suggests that this woman could have undergone rudimentary brain surgery known as trepanation, a procedure that involves drilling a hole in the skull to relieve intracranial pressure. Investigators suggest that the woman suffered from preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy condition, and that trepanation was a failed attempt to treat it. Unfortunately, neither the mother nor the fetus survived.