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

ABSTRACTS.–.Symposia
little.as.been.with.human.cadavers..This.paper.surveys.the.history.
of.experimental.mummification.with.humans,.discusses.why.this.is.
important,.and.suggests.areas.of.future.research.
126 Post-mortem Alterations of Mummified Human Tissue under
Experimental Setting, CHRISTINA PAPAGEORGOPOULOU*,
NATALLIA SHVED, and FRANK J. RÜHLI.(Centre.for.Evolutionary.Medicine,.Institute.of.Anatomy,.University.of.Zürich,.Winterthurerstr..
190,. 8057. Zürich,. Switzerland;. christina.p@anatom.
uzh.ch).
Post-mortem. alterations. of. human. bodies. are. of. utmost.
importance. in. forensic. medicine,. bioarchaeology. and. associate.
disciplines..The.determination.of.the.time.and.cause.of.death,.the.
interment. duration,. the. burial. micro-environment. with. its. various.parameters.and.the.diagenetic.changes.are.crucial.issues.with.
which.researchers.have.to.confront..Thus,.conducting.taphonomic.
experiments.to.post-mortem.alterations.of.human.bodies.is.of.great.
importance..Many.forensic.reports.exist.on.post-mortem.changes.
but.few.experimental.studies..The.present.study.is.a.part.of.a.larger.
project.which.tries.experimentally.to.reconstruct.the.ancient.Egyptian.mummification.method..Specifically,.macroscopical,.radiological,.histological.and.biomolecular.analysis.has.been.performed.on.
samples. from. a. mummified. human. limb. sampled. on. a. standard.
basis..The.current.paper.discusses.the.alterations.seen.on.the.measurements.made.on.the.temperature,.the.humidity,.the.pH.and.the.
weight.of.the.mummifying.tissue..All.measurements.were.made.(1).
on.a.constant.point.on.the.tissue.and.(2).on.the.area.from.where.
each.sample.was.extracted..An.24-hour.automatic.measurement.of.
the.temperature.and.humidity.was.also.made..Temperature.was.on.
average.stable.(20°C).whereas.a.steady.increase.of.pH.and.humidity.
from. 35%. to. 70%. were. observed..This. had. a. negative. effect.
on.the.mummification.rate.resulting.to.a.prolonged.duration.in.the.
mummification.process.compared.to.known.historical.sources.(e.g..
Herodotus.ca..484.–.425.BC)..Based.on.this.pilot.study.one.may.be.
able.in.future.research.to.enlighten.the.puzzling.process.of.human.
tissue.mummification.and.post-mortem.disintegration.
Grant.Support:.Swiss.National.Science.Foundation.(Nr..325130_120662).
and.Mäxi.Foundation.
127 Modeling Ancient Egyptian Mummification Method Using Evidence
Based Methodology: Histological Analysis, CHRISTINA
PAPAGEORGOPOULOU 1 *, NATALLIA SHVED 1 , JOHANN
WANEK 1 , GIOVANNI COLACICCO 2 , and FRANK J. RÜHLI 1 .
( 1 Centre. for. Evolutionary. Medicine,. Institute. of. Anatomy,. University.of.Zürich,.Winterthurerstr..190,.8057.Zürich,.Switzerland,.
2 Division.of.Functional.Neuroanatomy,.Institute.of.Anatomy,.University.of.Zürich,.Winterthurerstr..190,.8057.Zürich,.Switzerland;.
christina.p@anatom.uzh.ch).
Artificial. mummification. methods. have. been. developed. in.
many.parts.of.the.world.with.that.of.the.Ancient.Egyptian.being.
among. the. most. successful.. Many. ancient. and. modern. historical.
reports.have.been.concerned.with.the.ancient.Egyptian.mummification.method..Nevertheless,.little.effort.has.
been.made.to. explore.
this.process.on.an.experimental.basis..An.experiment.was.carried.
out.at.the.Institute.of.Anatomy.(University.of.Zürich)..One.human.
lower.limb.was.amputated.from.a.female.donor.and.underwent.an.
ancient. Egyptian-like. mummification. (20-26°C,. 35-70%). using.
natron. (54%. NaCl,. 16%. Na 2 SO 4 ,. 18%. Na 2 CO 3 . 12%. NaHCO 3 )..
Skin.and.muscle.samples.were.taken.for.histological.examination.
at. specific. time. intervals. and. standard. histological. analysis. was.
90
performed.(Hematoxylin-Eosin,.Goldner.and.Van.Giesen.staining)..
The.total.duration.of.the.experiment.was.208.days..From.the.125.
day.on,.additional.samples.were.taken.for.rehydration.in.a.Ruffer.
solution. (Ruffer,. 1921).. Photographic. documentation. was. at. the.
same.time.intervals.performed.using.the.same.setting.and.equipment.
for. meticulous. documentation. of. the. changes.. The. current.
paper.deals.with.the.alterations.seen.on.a.macroscopical.(discolorations,.
skin. slippage,. putrefactive. dehiscence). and. microscopical.level.(degeneration.of.the.epidermis.and.the.stratum
corneum,.
muschle.disintegration.particularly.affecting.the.epimysium).offering.a.valuable.record.on.the.appearance.of.human.tissue.on.various.
stages.of.mummification..
Grant. support:. Swiss. National. Science. Foundation. (Nr.. 325130_120662).
and.Mäxi.Foundation.
128 Modeling Ancient Egyptian Mummification Methods Using
Evidence Based Methodology: MRI, CT Analysis, STEPHA-
NIE PANzER 1 , JOHANN WANEK 2 , CHRISTINA PAPA-
GEORGOPOULOU 2 , NATALLIA SHVED 2 , GIOVANNI
COLACICCO 2,3 , and FRANK J. RÜHLI 2 * ( 1 Berufsgenossenschaftliche.Unfallklinik.Murnau,.Murnau.am.Staffelsee,.Germany;.
2 Centre.for.Evolutionary.Medicine,.Institute.of.Anatomy,.University.
of. Zürich,. Winterthurerstr.. 190,. 8057. Zürich,. Switzerland;.
3 Division.of.Functional.Neuroanatomy,.Institute.of.Anatomy,.University.
of. Zürich,.Winterthurerstr.190,. 8057. Zürich,. Switzerland;.
stephanie.panzer@)bgu-murnau.de,.frank.ruehli@gmail.com)..
The. radiologic. appearance. of. mummified. human. tissues. is.
of.foremost.interest.in.forensics.and.paleopathology..The.goal.of.
this.study.is.to.apply.evidence-based.diagnostic.criteria.and.stateof-the-art.
methodology. to. analyze. mummified. human. tissues. to.
improve. knowledge. on. post-mortem. alterations. in. ancient. and.
modern.settings.with.a.particular.focus.on.radiological.appearance..
Two.human.lower.limbs.(LL).were.amputated.from.a.female.donor.
(intra.vitam.body.donation.declaration;.ethics.committee.approval).
24h. post-mortem. and. “naturally”. mummified. by. heat. (ca.. 40°C,.
10-20%. humidity. (H)). and. by. “ancient. Egyptian-style. artificial”.
mummification.(20-26°C,.35-70%.H).by.natron.(54%.NaCl,.16%.
Na 2 SO 4 ,.18%.Na 2 CO 3 .12%.NaHCO 3 )..At.multiple.days.magnetic.
resonance.imaging.(MRI;.a.o..T1-,.T2-weighted,.ultra-short-echo.
time. sequences). and. computed. tomography,. were. performed..
According.to.MRI,.the.remaining.pockets.of.humidity.were.particularly.visible.along.anatomical.compartments.and.more.towards.
the.interior.regions.of.the.limb..The.initial.study.outcome.shows.
a.surprisingly.low.rate.of.mummification-related.tissue.alteration..
However,.based.on.this.pilot.study,.future.research.will.enlighten.
the.enigmatic.process.of.human.tissue.mummification,.particularly.
at.a.radiological.level..
Grant. support:. Swiss. National. Science. Foundation. (Nr.. 325130_120662).
and.Mäxi.Foundation.
129 Swiss Mummy Project: Experimental Human Tissue Mummification
and Post-mortem DNA Degradation,.NATALLIA SHVED 1 ,
CHRISTINA PAPAGEORGOPOULOU 1 , KATJA PAULSEN 1 ,
CORDULA HAAS 2 , and FRANK J. RÜHLI 1 .( 1 Centre.for.Evolutionary.
Medicine,. Institute. of. Anatomy,. University. of. Zürich,.
Winterthurerstr..190,.8057.Zürich,.Switzerland;. 2 Institute.of.Legal.
Medicine,.University.of.Zürich,.Winterthurerstr..190,.Zürich,.Switzerland;.n.shved@anatom.uzh.ch).
The.aim.of.this.study.is.to.analyze.the.degree.of.post-mortem.
DNA.alterations.in.such.tissues.in.order.to.improve.our.knowledge.