10-Year-Old Makes Stunning Archaeological Find in Grandma's Attic

Attics can be a treasure trove of old stuff -- from family photos to dusty furniture to boxes of holiday ornaments. But what a German boy found in his grandma's attic was unlike anything one would expect to find in the storage space.

It is what appears to be a body.

According to Der Spiegel, 10-year-old Alexander Kettler found a sarcophagus with a mummy inside. Neither his grandmother nor grandfather had known it was ever in there.

This mummy, which has yet to be verified as authentic, was found in an attic in Germany. (Image: YouTube screenshot)

"There was a huge sarcophagus and inside a mummy," the grandfather, Lutz Wolfgang Kettler, said. "Then we opened the other cases and found an earthenware Egyptian death mask and a Canopic Jar."

So how did it end up in the couple's Lower Saxony attic unknown for decades? Kettler speculated that his own father might have brought it back. Der Spiegel reported Kettler saying his father had traveled to North Africa in the 1950s, although he didn't speak much about his trip.

"He was of the older generation who experienced a lot in the war and didn't really talk about anything. I do seem to remember him mentioning having been to the city of Derna in Libya," Kettler said.

Watch this YouTube video for images of what was found and some commentary about its authenticity:

The Egypt Independent reported Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud with the country's Ministry of Antiquities saying it is checking to see if the mummy was taken from the country illegally, seeing if it is also registered at any museums. The ministry will also be looking into the history of the family itself to figure out how they might have come to possess the mummy.

If the mummy is found to be an artifact that belongs to Egypt, the country plans on bringing it back.

Kettler said his plan was to bring the mummy to Berlin where an archaeologist contact would verify its authenticity through X-ray.

(H/T: io9, Huffington Post)

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