279-year-old mummy reveals never-before-seen method of preserving human body
"Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying,' Dr Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat and first author of the Frontiers in Medicine article said.
External appearance of the mummy from the ventral (A) and dorsal side (B) showing a completely intact body wall. Credit: Andreas Nerlich.
advertisementCT scanning and extensive analysis revealed that the mummy's upper body was fully intact, whereas the lower extremities and head showed considerable post-mortem decay.A variety of foreign materials were discovered in the abdominal and pelvic cavity, the team identified wood chips from fir and spruce, fragments of branches, as well as different fabrics, including linen, hemp, and flax. All these materials were easily available at that time and in that region.'Clearly, the wood chips, twigs, and dry fabric absorbed much of the fluid inside the abdominal cavity,' said Nerlich.Researchers noted that this way of embalming is different to better-known methods where the body is opened to prepare it. Here, however, the embalming materials were inserted via the rectum.'This type of preservation may have been much more widespread but unrecognized in cases where ongoing postmortal decay processes may have damaged the body wall so that the manipulations would not have been realized as they were,' Nerlich pointed out.A small glass sphere with holes on both ends – perhaps an application to the fabric of monastic origin was also discovered inside the mummy. The mummy was long rumoured to belong to Sidler, but the origin of these rumours is unknown. It was, however, only the current investigation that provided certainty as to its identity. analyses showed that the mummy died most likely aged between 35 and 45 years old and most probably between 1734 and 1780.advertisementThe lack of major signs of stress on the skeleton fits the life of a priest without hard physical activity. There also was evidence of a long-term smoking habit, and lung tuberculosis towards the end of his life.
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