A surprise discovery of a coffin containing a corpse in military uniform has excited the population of Ardahan, a town of 98,000 people on Turkey's northeastern border.

The dead man was a Russian general buried there while the town was under Russian control in the late 19th and early 20th century. At least that was the rumor that attracted hundreds of people to the construction site where the body was found intact in a coffin with little decay and still shiny military boots.

Curious locals looked for a trace of gold or jewelry that might have been buried with what they thought was "an ancient relic" before archaeologists brought in from other cities quashed the rumors. Experts said the unidentified body belonged to a Russian army captain as his uniform indicated and he had nothing buried with him.Media reports said the body will likely be taken to a museum in Kars, a larger province in the region.