Department of Scientific Research, The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG, UK.
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK.
Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 20;13(1):4582. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-30468-4.
Animal mummification was commonplace in ancient Egypt, with the remains of many animals placed inside statues or votive boxes with representations of animals or hybrid human-animal creatures. Votive boxes were made from a variety of materials and often sealed; some boxes are still preserved in this state in museum collections. A prior study of sealed copper alloy votive boxes from the collection of the British Museum used X-ray computed tomography to search for animal remains, where poor image quality resulted due to attenuation from the boxes and apparent dense metals inside. In this study, neutron tomography was applied to six of the votive boxes previously examined. Animal remains, likely from lizards, and fragments of textile wrappings were discovered inside three of the boxes. Evidence of the manufacturing process and subsequent repairs of the boxes were uncovered by neutrons. Significant quantities of lead were also identified in three boxes. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of neutron tomography for the study of mummified remains inside sealed metal containers, and give evidence linking the animal figures represented on top of votive boxes to the concealed remains.
动物木乃伊化在古埃及很常见，许多动物的遗骸被放置在雕像或奉献盒内，这些盒子上装饰着动物或混合了人类和动物特征的生物形象。奉献盒由各种材料制成，通常是密封的；一些盒子仍然保存在博物馆的藏品中。之前对大英博物馆收藏的密封铜合金奉献盒的研究使用了 X 射线计算机断层扫描来寻找动物遗骸，但由于盒子和内部明显的致密金属的衰减，导致图像质量较差。在这项研究中，对之前检查过的六个奉献盒进行了中子断层扫描。在其中三个盒子内部发现了可能来自蜥蜴的动物遗骸和纺织品包装的碎片。中子揭示了盒子的制造过程和随后的修复过程的证据。还在三个盒子中发现了大量的铅。这些发现表明中子断层扫描对于研究密封金属容器内的木乃伊化遗骸非常有效，并提供了将奉献盒顶部代表的动物形象与隐藏的遗骸联系起来的证据。
