Wade Andrew D, Nelson Andrew J, Garvin Greg J
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Homo. 2011 Aug;62(4):248-69. doi: 10.1016/j.jchb.2011.01.004. Epub 2011 Apr 8.
Variability in brain treatment, as a part of the Egyptian mummification process, is poorly appreciated in the literature, as variability in the details of excerebration have not been addressed comprehensively nor with respect to social, geographic, and temporal variation. The description of Egyptian mummification commonly used in the popular and academic literature is derived largely from accounts by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus. However, this normative description does not acknowledge the existence of a wide range of mummification techniques practiced and so stifles the study of geographic and chronological changes in the practice and their causes. Therefore, the goal of this study is to use the classical description as a hypothesis for empirical testing, using published literature and primary radiographic data, with a specific focus on the practice of excerebration. Three primary treatments of the brain in mummification, and their variation over time and across social strata, are discussed in relation to their treatment in the literature, their radiological indicators, and their technical considerations. In order to examine Egyptian mummy excerebration, this study makes use of two samples: (1) a literature-based sample of 125 mummies, and (2) a sample of 6 mummies examined directly using computed tomography. In spite of an apparent high degree of variability, the literature continues to focus on modern and classical stereotypes rather than the rich variability in the Egyptian mummification tradition. Detailed, large-scale examination of this and other mummification traditions, and their meanings, is required to further our understanding of this important early complex society.
作为埃及木乃伊制作过程的一部分，脑部处理方式的多样性在文献中并未得到充分认识，因为脑髓摘除细节方面的差异尚未得到全面探讨，也未考虑社会、地理和时间上的变化。大众和学术文献中常用的埃及木乃伊制作描述主要源自希罗多德和西西里的狄奥多罗斯的记载。然而，这种规范性描述并未承认存在多种木乃伊制作技术，因此阻碍了对该制作方法在地理和时间上的变化及其原因的研究。所以，本研究的目标是以经典描述为假设进行实证检验，利用已发表的文献和原始放射数据，特别关注脑髓摘除的做法。本文讨论了木乃伊制作中脑部的三种主要处理方式，以及它们随时间和社会阶层的变化，同时涉及文献中的处理方式、放射学指标和技术考量。为了研究埃及木乃伊的脑髓摘除情况，本研究使用了两个样本：（1）基于文献的125具木乃伊样本，以及（2）直接使用计算机断层扫描检查的6具木乃伊样本。尽管存在明显的高度变异性，但文献仍继续关注现代和经典的刻板印象，而非埃及木乃伊制作传统中的丰富变异性。需要对这一及其他木乃伊制作传统及其意义进行详细的大规模研究，以加深我们对这个重要早期复杂社会的理解。
