Penn's Archaeology Museum Uses Replicas Of Chinese Mummies For Now
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The show goes on at an area museum even after China abruptly stops its mummies and artifacts from be displayed.
Talks with China continue and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is hoping the artifacts and mummies of the "Secrets of the Silk Road" exhibit will be allowed to be shown at the museum before heading back to China.
The treasures were all ready displayed in California and Texas and this was to be the last stop. No explanation has been given.
Kate Quinn the director of exhibits at the museum she says she was informed this past Wednesday and had to figure out what to do:
"We needed to come up with plan B once we got the word so what we did was we went through the catalogue and we blew up some of the images and the ones we could get the best quality from and we recreated them to scale in the case you see in the exhibition so that we could still give could visitors a full sense that what it was that they would be seeing."
They made a replica of a 3,800 year old mummy known as the beauty of Xiaohe and a baby mummy.
"They're made out of paper machete, but I will challenge most people if they go in and they can't tell the difference," said Quinn.
There are dance performances, music and even live camels celebrating the 'Secrets of the Silk Road' exhibit through the weekend.
The Silk Road refers to the ancient trade routes that connected Asia and Europe.
Reported By John McDevitt, KYW Newsradio.
