Creepy 3000-year-old tumour 'with teeth' found in ancient burial site

Archaeologists have unearthed an incredibly freaky discovery at an ancient Egyptian cemetery: A tumour 'with teeth'.

The ovarian tumour was found in the pelvis of a woman who had died over 3,000 years ago and was believed to be between the ages of 18 and 21.

Described as being nickel-sized, the tumour is now the oldest example of a teratoma, a rare type found in the ovaries or testicles. The unique discovery also appeared to have two distinct enamel-covered teeth.

The woman's remains were found by Anna Stevens from the University of Cambridge and Gretchen Dabbs from Southern Illinois University, who have headed the project researching Amarna cemeteries since 2005.

The woman's morphology of the pelvis allowed researchers to determine her sex, while her age was assessed through how her teeth developed.

The woman's remains were surprisingly still cloaked in gold jewellery, with one addition standing out to archaeologists.

On one of the fingers was a gold ring with an image of Bes, the God of fertility. Researchers went on to speculate her tumour may have affected her having children.

"The presence of a gold ring decorated with the god Bes on Individual 3051′s [the label given to the woman] left hand, and perhaps the positioning of the hand and ring close to the mass, may suggest the teratoma was not asymptomatic and Individual 3051 was attempting to invoke Bes to protect her from pain or other symptoms, or aid in her attempts to conceive and birth a child," the study explains, as per Science Direct.

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