Crowds gathered on the afternoon of December 10 when the coffin was opened.

The tomb was accidentally discovered on December 7 during the construction of an irrigation project in a Cham field in Ngoc My Commune.

The coffin was made of precious wood and was covered with three to five centimetres of alloy. The top of the coffin was fastened by four firm wooden bolts. It was painted red on inside and had suffered little damage. The body was wrapped in several rolls of traditional paper made from bark and protected by cotton pillows.

It took some time to unwrap the body, which was covered by around ten layers of cloth.

It was later determined that the body was that of a woman of around 60. The body was dry and 165 centimetres tall, and well-preserved. Many of her features could still be seen including her hair, face, and teeth. They found no precious jewelry but there was one old coin inside the woman’s mouth.

“The tomb may belong to the Hau Le Dynasty, dating back 300 years ago,” said Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong, General Secretary of Vietnam Archaeology Association.

Archaeologists also found no liquid inside the coffin, a substance often used to preserve bodies found in some other old coffins. Some guessed that the liquid may leaked out of the coffin before it was found.