When mental synthesis crews working in Queens , New Yorkunearthedthe remain of a char clothe in a ashen nightgown and knee - high socks in 2011 , the trunk was so well preserved they nearly thought to call the police for fear she was a late homicide victim . Her coffin , however , told a unlike narrative .
Scott Warnasch , a forensic archaeologist for the urban center was called to the scene . Warnasch worked at the World Trade Center web site after 9/11 and , with 25 years on the job , was have in identifying the clay of citizenry lose in meter . Metal fragments located near the entombment site indicated the cleaning woman was buried more than 150 age ago , while an psychoanalysis of public nosecount records and her unique nineteenth - century cast - atomic number 26 coffin has help Warnasch identify the 26 - yr - old African - American woman as Martha Peterson , the girl of two prominent area digit .
Her coffin was made by a former stove manufacturerFisk & Raymondwho build signifier - fitting iron casket only used briefly in the mid-1800s . Because wood coffins decompose and leave only bone behind , Fe coffinswere an expensive alternative only used by the affluent to preserve the cadaver inside unless the person had died from infectious disease . During a time where airborne unwellness could be fateful , these airtight design also served a much more pragmatic function .
“ In add-on to transportation and storage , Fisk ’s coffins also provided a safe fashion to quarantine victims of contagious diseases , while still allowing for a traditional funeral and viewing , ” Warnasch explained toPBS . “ In a time before extensive usage of picture taking , the coffin ’s ellipse glass viewing windowpane allowed next of kin to see and confirm the identity of the occupier without encountering odor or likely disease . A third merchandising point was as a deterrent to grave robbers , who steal cadaver to sell to medical schools for dissection . ”
For years Warnasch and his team hit the books the remains by conducting a “ virtual ” autopsy using computer software package to determine her causa of death – most likely smallpox . A forensic imaging specializer created a facial Reconstruction Period by using a CT scan of her skull , digitally touch on share of it that were damaged , and incorporating her age and bloodline features from a database .
After more than five days of testing , her consistence was laid to rest inNovember 2016 .
Martha Peterson ’s story will be shared in a PBS documentary , secret of the Dead : The Woman in the Iron Coffin , uncommitted for streaming on its website and app from October 4 .
