7th World Congress on Mummy Studies University of San Diego San ...

ABSTRACTS.–.Contributed.Oral.Papers
own.rhythmicity,.synchronized,.in.those.with.a.nervous.system,.in.
the.hypothalamus,.the.“master.time.keeper”.of.the.brain..
The.pulsing.is.affected.by.geography.and.modified.by.water.
and.food.intake.and.biological.poisons..Hair.is.a.repository.of.biologic.rhythms.which.give.insight.into.physiology.and.disease..
Here.we.used.variations.in.hydrogen.isotope.ratios.along.the.
length.of.hairs.and.microfocused.synchrotron.X-ray.fluorescence.
analyses. of. mammoths’. hairs. from. widely. separated. locations. in.
Siberia.and.hair.from.ancient.Italian.nobility,.poisoned.with.mercury,.to.show.that.such.hairs.are.a.readily.available.archive.of.life.
style.and.of.disease..
We.propose.that.similar.analyses.of.archaeological.specimens.
could.give.insight.into.the.biology.and.pathology.of.ancient.people.
and.animals.
114
CONTRIBUTED ORAL
PRESENTATIONS
<strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on Mummy Studies
CONTRIBUTED PAPERS: SESSION I
Sunday, starting at 1:30 p.m. in KIPJ Theatre
233 Microscopic and Molecular de.novo.Analysis of the Iceman’s
Stomach Content, FRANK MAIXNER 1 *, EDUARD EGARTER
VIGL 2 , ANDREAS KELLER 3 , ANDRE FRANKE 4 , KLAUS
OEGGL 6 , GIOVANNA CIPOLLINI 1 , ANGELA GRAE-
FEN 1 , PAUL GOSTNER 5 , DARIO PIOMBINO-MASCALI 1 ,
MARCO SAMADELLI 1 , and ALBERT zINK 1 ( 1 EURAC. -.
Institute.for.Mummies.and.the.Iceman,.Viale.Druso.1,.39100.Bolzano,.Italy;.
2 Department.of.Pathological.Anatomy.and.Histology,.
General.Hospital.Bolzano,.Italy; .3 Department.of.Human.Genetics,.
Saarland.University,.Homburg,.Saar,.Germany;. 4 Institute.of.Clinical.
Molecular. Biology,. Schittenhelmstr.. 12,. Christian-Albrechts.
University. Kiel,. 24105. Kiel,. Germany;. 5 Department. of. Radiodiagnostics,.
Central. Hospital. Bolzano,. Bolzano,. Italy;. 6 Institute. of.
Botary,.University.of.Innsbruck,.Sternwartestr..15,.Innsbruck.6020,.
Austria;.frank.maixner@eurac.edu).
Until. recently,. the. Iceman´s. stomach. had. not. been. found.
radiologically. and. was. therefore. assumed. to. be. empty.. During. a.
recent.re-examination.however,.the.Iceman’s.stomach.was.not.only.
identified. radiologically,. but. also. shown. to. be. completely. filled..
This.circumstance.not.only.sheds.new.light.on.the.final.hours.leading.up.to.the.Iceman’s.untimely.death,.but.also.on.to.general.life.
and.nutritional.habits.in.the.Neolithic.era..A.sample.of.the.stomach.
content. has. been. taken. in. November. 2010. and. first. subjected. to.
macroscopic.and.microscopic.investigations..In.addition.we.started.
a.series.of.molecular.analyses.of.the.stomach.material.aiming.to.
identify.the.nature.of.the
234 Terahertz Imaging of Ancient Mummies,. LENA OEHR-
STROEM 1 , ANDREAS BITzER 2 , MARKUS WALTHER 3 ,
THOMAS BÖNI 4 , GIOVANNI COLACICCO 5 , and FRANK J.
RÜHLI 1 * ( 1 Swiss.Mummy.Project,.Centre.for.Evolutionary.Medicine,.University.of.Zürich,.Switzerland;.
2 Department.of.Molecular.
and.Optical.Physics,.Albert-Ludwigs-University,.Freiburg.im.Breisgau,.Germany,.
3 Institute.of.Applied.Physics,.University.of.Bern,.
Sidlerstr.. 5,. CH-3012. Bern,. Switzerland;. 4 Orthopedic. University.
Clinic. Balgrist,. University. of. Zürich,. Switzerland;. 5 Division. of.
Neuroanatomy. and. Behaviour,. Institute. of. Anatomy,. University.
of.Zürich,.Winterthurerstr..190,.8057,.Zürich,.Switzerland;.lena@
ohrstrom.ch)..
Ancient. Egyptian. mummified. objects. are. investigated. using.
non-ionizing. Terahertz. time-domain. imaging. and. the. results. are.
compared. with. corresponding. images. obtained. by. conventional.
computed.tomography.
Computed.tomography.is.currently.the.gold-standard.in.noninvasive.
diagnostic. imaging. of. mummies.. The. radiation. used. in.
CT.is.high.energetic.and.possibly.damages.the.already.fragmented.
DNA..Terahertz.though.is.a.very.low.energetic.radiation.and.completely.harmless.to.human.cells..The.aim.of.the.present.study.was.
to.show.the.feasibility.of.Terahertz.imaging.in.ancient.mummies..
THz.time.domain.imaging.was.used.for.the.very.first.time.in.historic.specimens..An.artificially.embalmed.ancient.Egyptian.human.
mummy.hand.(ex-collection.Musée.d’Orbe.Switzerland,.ca..1300.
BC). and. a. macerated. human. lumbar. vertebra. (Galler. collection,.
Pathology. Department,. University. Hospital,. Zürich,. Switzerland,.
ca.. 1950. AD). were. examined. by. a. standard. THz. time-domain.
spectroscopy. system.. Correlative. multislice. conventional. X-ray.
and.CT.images.were.performed..Our.results.demonstrate.that.THz.
imaging.allows.mummy.tissue.and.bone.discrimination;.however,.
imaging.by.conventional.X-ray.in.particular.reveals.higher.spatial.
resolution.
THz.time-domain.imaging.also.provides.spectroscopic.information.within.a.wide.frequency.range,.which.makes.it.possible.to.
identify.different.tissue.types.or.characteristic.absorbing.chemical.
substances.whereas.X-rays.rather.provide.density.information..The.
composition.of.embalming.resin.possibly.could.be.detected.using.
Terahertz.radiation.
Terahertz.radiation.provides.a.completely.non-invasive.diagnostic.imaging.modality.for.historic.dry
material.
235 Comparative CT and MR Imaging of Ancient Mummified
Tissues, LENA OEHSTROEM 1 , HENDRIK von WALD-
BURG 1 , PETER SPEIER 2 , MICHAEL BOCK 3 , and FRANK
J. RÜHLI 1 * ( 1 Swiss. Mummy. Project,. Centre. for. Evolutionary.
Medicine,. University. of. Zürich,. Switzerland;. 2 Siemens. Medical.
Solutions,.Erlangen,.Germany;. 3 German.Cancer.Research.Centre,.
Heidelberg,.Germany;.lena@ohrstrom.ch)..
As. ancient. Egyptian. and. Peruvian. mummies. are. extremely.
valuable.historic.relics,.their.completeness.should.be.guaranteed..
Thus,.non-invasive.investigation.methods.are.most.desirable..Computed.tomography.(CT).is.currently.the.gold-standard.in.radiological.mummy.research..The.radiation.though.is.high.energy.and.damages.
the. already. fragmented. DNA.. Magnetic. resonance. imaging.
(MRI).-.while.operating.with.electromagnetic.field.-.does.not.affect.
this. sensitive. DNA.. In. recent. decades. MRI. couldn’t. be. applied.
in.mummified.tissue,.because.of.its.high.water.content..Recently,.
this.method.has.been.demonstrated.for.the.first.time.in.mummies.
using.the.special.ultra-short-echo-time.(UTE).technique..The.aim.
of. the. present. study. was. to. evaluate. the. value. of. MR. images. in.
comparison.to.CT.images.of.ancient.mummies..We.acquired.and.
analysed.data.from.two.ancient.Egyptian.mummified.hands.and.an.
ancient.mummified.head.(circa.1500-1100.BCE),.as.well.as.from.
an. ancient. Peruvian. mummy. (circa. 1100. CE).. Signal. intensity.
and. signal. variance. were. evaluated. using. a. qualitative. scale. and.