The Tyrolean Iceman, commonly known as Ötzi, is the world's oldest glacier mummy and one of the best investigated ancient human remains in the world. Since the discovery of the 5,300-year-old Copper ...Age individual in 1991, in a glacier in the Eastern Italian Alps, a variety of morphological, biochemical, and molecular analyses have been performed that revealed important insights into his origin, his life habits, and the circumstances surrounding his demise. In more recent research, the mummy was subjected to cutting-edge modern research methodologies currently focusing on high-throughput sequence analysis of ancient biomolecules (DNA, proteins, lipids) that are still preserved in the mummified tissues. This application of innovative "-omics" technologies revealed novel insights on the ancestry, disease predisposition, diet, and the presence of pathogens in the glacier mummy. In this review, the most important and actual results of the molecular studies will be highlighted.
Alfredo Salafia, an Italian embalmer who was active in the early 20
century, treated a number of corpses with his own preservation method. Among them was the young Rosalia Lombardo, just shy of two ...years old at the time of her death, whose remarkable preservation has brought her significant attention. It is well documented that Salafia had concocted a formula for a highly advanced embalming fluid which is believed to have been used to preserve Lombardo. This is referenced in a book and in two unpublished documents, and was also traced through familial memories and stories within the Capuchin Brotherhood of Palermo, where three of those bodies embalmed by Salafia are kept in a world-renowned crypt. Salafia's paternity of this specific preparation is further supported by some indirect evidence, which corresponds to what the embalmer described in his handwritten memoir. A recent article by Galassi and co-workers, however, attempted to debunk Salafia's role, and questioned the results of previous research performed on this case. They suggest additional studies on Lombardo that are not only unnecessary, but would irreversibly damage the long-term conservation of the mummy. Our paper aims to demonstrate that their article is biased and built upon incorrect assumptions and interpretations, thus re-establishing the validity of the narrative shared up until now.
The Vác Mummy Collection comprises 265 well documented mummified individuals from the late 16th to the early 18th century that were discovered in 1994 inside a crypt in Vác, Hungary. This collection ...offers a unique opportunity to study the relationship between humans and pathogens in the pre-antibiotic era, as previous studies have shown a high proportion of tuberculosis (TB) infections among the individuals. In this study, we recovered ancient DNA with shotgun sequencing from a rib bone sample of a 18th century midwife. This individual is part of the collection and shows clear skeletal changes that are associated with tuberculosis and syphilis. To provide molecular proof, we applied a metagenomic approach to screen for ancient pathogen DNA. While we were unsuccessful to recover any ancient Treponema pallidum DNA, we retrieved high coverage ancient TB DNA and identified a mixed infection with two distinct TB strains by detailed single-nucleotide polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis. Thereby, we have obtained comprehensive results demonstrating the long-time prevalence of mixed infections with the sublineages L4.1.2.1/Haarlem and L4.10/PGG3 within the local community in preindustrial Hungary and put them in context of sociohistorical factors.
The purpose of this study was to develop a checklist for standardized assessment of soft tissue preservation in human mummies based on whole-body computed tomography examinations, and to add a ...scoring system to facilitate quantitative comparison of mummies. Computed tomography examinations of 23 mummies from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily (17 adults, 6 children; 17 anthropogenically and 6 naturally mummified) and 7 mummies from the crypt of the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit of Vilnius, Lithuania (5 adults, 2 children; all naturally mummified) were used to develop the checklist following previously published guidelines. The scoring system was developed by assigning equal scores for checkpoints with equivalent quality. The checklist was evaluated by intra- and inter-observer reliability. The finalized checklist was applied to compare the groups of anthropogenically and naturally mummified bodies. The finalized checklist contains 97 checkpoints and was divided into two main categories, "A. Soft Tissues of Head and Musculoskeletal System" and "B. Organs and Organ Systems", each including various subcategories. The complete checklist had an intra-observer reliability of 98% and an inter-observer reliability of 93%. Statistical comparison revealed significantly higher values in anthropogenically compared to naturally mummified bodies for the total score and for three subcategories. In conclusion, the developed checklist allows for a standardized assessment and documentation of soft tissue preservation in whole-body computed tomography examinations of human mummies. The scoring system facilitates a quantitative comparison of the soft tissue preservation status between single mummies or mummy collections.
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of anemias in ancient Egyptian child mummies. Whole‐body computed tomography (CT) examinations of 21 ancient Egyptian child mummies from ...European museums were evaluated for estimation of sex and age at death. CT examinations were systematically assessed for skeletal effects of anemias using a clinical radiological approach as well as quantitative measurements of the thickness of the cranial vault and diploe. Additionally, the technical feasibility to assess porotic hyperostosis on the available CT data was examined. Twelve children were assessed as male and seven as female, and in two, the sex was indeterminate. The estimated age at death ranged from about 1 year to 12–14 years. One case showed radiological signs of thalassemia (β‐thalassemia major) at the cranial vault and postcranial skeleton. Additionally, this case had a macroglossia that probably indicated Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome. Quantitative measurements confirmed a high variability of cranial vault thickness and diploe thickness. Compared with clinical reference values, seven out of the 21 (33%) child mummies had a pathological enlargement of the frontal cranial vault that represents a typical finding of chronic hemolytic anemia and iron deficiency anemia. Assessment of porotic hyperostosis was not feasible on the available CT examinations as the image quality was not sufficient for this examination. In conclusion, pathological enlargement of the frontal cranial vault as an indicator for chronic hemolytic anemia and iron deficiency anemia had a high prevalence, especially in the younger children. The mummy with radiological signs of thalassemia seems to be the first case with radiological evidence of skeletal effects of this anemia to the cranial vault and postcranial skeleton from ancient Egypt.
This paper presents the first radiological investigation of a collection of Sicilian mummies held in a crypt beneath the Mother Church of Piraino, Italy. The chamber contains 26 preserved bodies of ...religious dignitaries, either conserved vertically in special wall niches or horizontally on wooden shelves. The majority of bodies are clothed, and transportation outside of the crypt was not feasible. Therefore assessment of the remains via paleoradiological methods appeared to be the most convenient approach to investigate this precious ethno-anthropological heritage. Radiological examination of 23 of these mummies yielded information relating to their funerary treatment and some of the pathological alterations associated with the remains. These included osteoarthritis, diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, and neoplasms, as well as any trauma present. These analyses provided insights into mortuary behavior and the osteobiographies of these clerical figures.
Animal remains are a common find in prehistoric and protohistoric funerary contexts. While taphonomic and osteological data provide insights about the proximate (depositional) factors responsible for ...these findings, the ultimate cultural causes leading to this observed mortuary behavior are obscured by the opacity of the archaeological record and the lack of written sources. Here, we apply an interdisciplinary suite of analytical approaches (zooarchaeological, anthropological, archaeological, paleogenetic, and isotopic) to explore the funerary deposition of animal remains and the nature of joint human-animal burials at Seminario Vescovile (Verona, Northern Italy 3rd-1st c. BCE). This context, culturally attributed to the Cenomane culture, features 161 inhumations, of which only 16 included animal remains in the form of full skeletons, isolated skeletal parts, or food offerings. Of these, four are of particular interest as they contain either horses (Equus caballus) or dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)-animals that did not play a dietary role. Analyses show no demographic, dietary, funerary similarities, or genetic relatedness between individuals buried with animals. Isotopic data from two analyzed dogs suggest differing management strategies for these animals, possibly linked to economic and/or ritual factors. Overall, our results point to the unsuitability of simple, straightforward explanations for the observed funerary variability. At the same time, they connect the evidence from Seminario Vescovile with documented Transalpine cultural traditions possibly influenced by local and Roman customs.
Abstract Cornaux/Les Sauges (Switzerland, Late Iron Age) revealed remnants of a wooden bridge, artifacts, and human and animal skeletal remains. The relationship between the collapsed structure and ...the skeletal material, whether it indicates a potential accident or cultural practices, remains elusive. We evaluate the most plausible scenario for Cornaux based on osteological, taphonomic, isotopic, and paleogenomic analysis of the recovered individuals. The latter amount to at least 20 individuals, mostly adult males. Perimortem lesions include only blunt force traumas. Radiocarbon data fall between the 3rd and 1st c. BCE, although in some cases predating available dendrochronological estimates from the bridge. Isotopic data highlight five to eight nonlocals. No close genetic relatedness links the analyzed skeletons. Paleogenomic results, the first for Iron Age Switzerland, point to a genetic affinity with other Central and Western European Iron Age groups. The type of skeletal lesions supports an accidental event as the more plausible explanation. Radiocarbon data and the demographic structure of the sample may suggest a sequence of different events possibly including executions and/or sacrifices. Isotopic and paleogenomic data, while not favoring one scenario over the other, do support earlier interpretations of the last centuries BCE in Europe as a dynamic period from a biocultural perspective.
To identify and interpret computed tomography (CT) findings of postmortem changes in ancient Egyptian child mummies.
Whole-body CT examinations of 21 ancient Egyptian child mummies from German (n = ...18), Italian (n = 1), and Swiss museums (n = 2).
Conspicuous CT findings from prior evaluations with various research questions that were assessed as postmortem changes were classified, and special cases were illustrated and discussed.
Postmortem changes were classified into several categories. From these, cases with evidence of invasion of resin/oil/tar into bone, dried fluid-levels within bone most likely due to natron, probable interaction of natron with soft tissues and bone, as well as insect infestation were demonstrated.
One challenge of paleoradiology is to differentiate between intravital and postmortem changes, which can be multifarious. These changes can be obvious, but also subtle, and can mimic diseases.
The provided classification of postmortem changes as well as the demonstrated cases may serve as models for further paleoradiological investigations. The dried intraosseous fluid levels in two mummies, most likely due to natron, suggests that these children were immersed in a liquid natron bath, in contrast to the current scientific view that natron for mummification was routinely applied in the solid form.
CT was used as the only examination method as sampling of the mummies was not possible.
The awareness that postmortem changes on CT images of ancient Egyptian mummies might mimic pathology should be raised to reduce or avoid incorrect interpretation.
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