The infant mummy's face-Paleoradiological investigation and comparison between facial reconstruction and mummy portrait of a Roman-period Egyptian child

Integrated multidisciplinary analysis of mobile digital radiographic acquisitions of the mummies of the hermits from the Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy - 17th to 19th century CE)

Paleoradiology has become a standard diagnostic method in the study of mummified or embalmed bodies. Among the various available techniques, computed tomography valuing for its ability to provide detailed information. However, computed tomography equipment is not always accessible to research teams, cannot be easily transported to all conservation sites, and raises health concerns. Therefore, mobile digital radiographic technology is often the most suitable investigative tool in specific contexts. In this study, three mummies preserved at the Sanctuary of Madonna della Corona, perched on a cliff above the Adige River Valley on the Monte Baldo at an elevation of 775 m a.s.l., were analyzed using radiographic techniques. The impossibility of transferring the bodies due to the sanctuary's remote location imposed the use of lightweight, portable equipment for the radiological examination. This article highlights next-generation X-ray technology utility, potential, and limitations in investigating clothing fabrics, restoration history, taphonomy, entomology, anthropology, and paleopathology. The interdisciplinary approach in this study has unveiled new historical and biological insights about these mummies, which, though revered in popular devotion, had previously been unknown to both Italian and international scientific communities.

The "angioletti" of Palermo: the health and development of mummified non-adults in late modern Palermo, Sicily (1787-1880 CE)

The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily, have been home to non-adult mummified remains since the seventeenth century CE. Despite the increasing numbers of scientific studies conducted at this site, very little research has focused specifically on the youngest members of late modern (1787-1880 CE) society. This research aims to redress the balance by examining 43 individuals to gain insight into the demographic profile of mummified non-adults, to characterize their health status and possible cause of death, and to better understand the funerary treatment offered to the youngest members of society. A portable X-ray unit was used to capture anteroposterior and lateral images of each mummy; this facilitated age estimation, the identification of pathological and/traumatic lesions, and evidence of conservation and the mummification process more generally. This study revealed that regardless of age and health status at the time of death, the mortuary rite performed was primarily influenced by the wealth and social standing of the deceased's kin. No demographic trends were observed in the data and the lack of evidence of metabolic, neoplastic, and traumatic bone lesions suggest these non-adults died from short-term, acute illnesses. Even when individuals did display evidence of chronic health conditions that would have impacted their day-to-day lives (e.g., B035), they were not excluded from this mortuary tradition on the basis of their long-term health and care requirements in life. Artifacts were found with all individuals examined and were associated with the mummification process, conservation of mummies, and/or their display. This research has ultimately demonstrated that non-invasive imaging can be used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the lives and deaths of non-adults inhabiting late modern Palermo.

Adipositas and metabolic bone disorder in a 16th century Upper Austrian infant crypt mummy—An interdisciplinary palaeopathological insight into historical aristocratic life

We describe here the results of a multidisciplinary study on an infant mummy from 16th century Upper Austria buried in the crypt of the family of the Counts of Starhemberg. The macroscopic-anthropological, radiological (whole-body CT scan), histological (skin tissue), and radiocarbon isotope investigations suggested a male infant of 10–18 months' age, most likely dying between 1550 and 1635 CE (probably Reichard Wilhelm, 1625–1626 CE), that presented with evidence of metabolic bone disease with significant bilateral flaring of costochondral joints resembling “rachitic rosary” of the ribs, along with straight long bones and lack of fractures or subperiosteal bleeding residues. Although incompletely developed, the osteopathology points toward rickets, without upper or lower extremities long bone deformation. The differential diagnosis is vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) (also with an incomplete presentation, although overlap between both disorders may be present). As additional pathology, there was significantly enlarged subcutaneous fat tissue (thickness more than 1 cm at the navel and thighs and longitudinal creases of the skin) along with a histologically enlarged subcutaneous fat layer consistent with infantile adipositas as a coincident disorder. Finally, remnants of lung tissue with pleural adhesion of the right lung indicate possibly lethal pneumonia, a disease with an increased prevalence in vitamin D deficient infants. Ultimately, the skull presented with extensive destruction of the bones of the base and dislocation of the bones of the skull squama. These changes, however, are most likely post-mortal pseudopathology, the result of a burial in a flat, narrow coffin because there were no bone fractures or residues of bleeding/tissue reaction that would have occurred whilst the patient was alive.