Zesch Stephanie, Panzer Stephanie, Paladin Alice, Sutherland M Linda, Lindauer Susanne, Friedrich Ronny, Pommerening Tanja, Zink Albert, Rosendahl Wilfried
German Mummy Project, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, Germany.
Department of Radiology, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Austria.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 20;19(12):e0316018. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316018. eCollection 2024.
In accordance with ancient Egyptian beliefs, the preservation of the body after death was an important prerequisite for the continued existence of the deceased in the afterlife. This involved application of various physical interventions and magical rituals to the corpse. Computed tomography (CT), as the gold-standard technology in the field of paleoradiology, enables deeper insights into details of artificial body preservation. Therefore, CT was applied to investigate age at death, sex, mummification techniques, and the state of soft tissue preservation in 21 child mummies. The specimens are housed in European museums and were found in various archaeological sites. This sample included 12 males, 7 females, and two specimens of unknown sex, all between the ages of one and 14 years. Time periods were determined by radiocarbon dating, and time-related indicators of funerary equipment and decoration. Most of the mummies date from the Late Period to the Roman Period (664 BC-395 AD). Differences were identified concerning techniques of wrapping and embalming and removal of brain and internal organs, depending on age at death, social status and the archaeological site of the individuals. The variety and multifaceted nature of mummification and soft tissue preservation was analyzed in an integrated approach including a large number of specimens. The study highlights the significance of subadult remains as valuable bioarcheological archives to investigate burial customs and religious concepts in past societies.
根据古埃及人的信仰，死后保存尸体是死者在来世继续存在的重要前提。这涉及对尸体进行各种物理干预和魔法仪式。计算机断层扫描（CT）作为古放射学领域的金标准技术，能够更深入地洞察人工保存尸体的细节。因此，应用CT来研究21具儿童木乃伊的死亡年龄、性别、木乃伊化技术以及软组织保存状况。这些标本收藏在欧洲博物馆，来自不同的考古遗址。该样本包括12名男性、7名女性以及两具性别不明的标本，年龄均在1岁至14岁之间。通过放射性碳年代测定法以及丧葬用品和装饰的时间相关指标来确定时间跨度。大多数木乃伊的年代从晚期到罗马时期（公元前664年至公元395年）。根据死亡年龄、社会地位以及个体的考古遗址，在包裹、防腐处理以及脑和内脏器官的摘除技术方面发现了差异。采用综合方法，包括大量标本，对木乃伊化和软组织保存的多样性和多面性进行了分析。该研究强调了未成年遗骸作为有价值的生物考古档案对于研究过去社会的埋葬习俗和宗教观念的重要性。
