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Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals

Richard Johnston Orcid Logo, Richard Thomas, Rhys Jones, Carolyn Graves-Brown, Wendy Goodridge, Laura North

Scientific Reports, Volume: 10, Issue: 1

Swansea University Authors: Richard Johnston Orcid Logo, Carolyn Graves-Brown, Wendy Goodridge, Laura North

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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41598-020-69726-0

Abstract

The clues to life and death of mummified animals can remain hidden beneath their wrappings. Developments in non-invasive imaging have enabled detailed study of their internal structures. Laboratory-based X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) and focussed imaging protocols permit smaller mummified...

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Published in: Scientific Reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54760
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Developments in non-invasive imaging have enabled detailed study of their internal structures. Laboratory-based X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) and focussed imaging protocols permit smaller mummified remains, such as animals, to be studied at higher resolution. In this study, we use microCT to image three different animal mummies. Revealing the internal structures provides insights into their biography, the conditions in which they were kept, complex mummification practices, possible causes of death, and subsequent handling damage. Thousands of years after the production of these mummified animals, the X-ray microCT technique facilitates new investigations, revealing ‘harder’ skeletal structures, mummification materials, and even desiccated soft tissues. Potential evidence for an ‘opening of the mouth’ procedure was found in a snake, along with indicators of the poor conditions in which the snake was kept when alive, leading to dehydration. Examination of a cat mummy revealed it was less than five months old and had its neck purposefully broken. It was also possible to identify a bird mummy to species level from the X-ray data. 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spelling v2 54760 2020-07-16 Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals 23282e7acce87dd926b8a62ae410a393 0000-0003-1977-6418 Richard Johnston Richard Johnston true false f68ec97a7672138d66c43843d22ad8e6 Carolyn Graves-Brown Carolyn Graves-Brown true false 179f2a09cb8fd960838c7ee668cd4d42 Wendy Goodridge Wendy Goodridge true false a255822cf77a0184cb6922e9fbea39e9 Laura North Laura North true false 2020-07-16 MTLS The clues to life and death of mummified animals can remain hidden beneath their wrappings. Developments in non-invasive imaging have enabled detailed study of their internal structures. Laboratory-based X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) and focussed imaging protocols permit smaller mummified remains, such as animals, to be studied at higher resolution. In this study, we use microCT to image three different animal mummies. Revealing the internal structures provides insights into their biography, the conditions in which they were kept, complex mummification practices, possible causes of death, and subsequent handling damage. Thousands of years after the production of these mummified animals, the X-ray microCT technique facilitates new investigations, revealing ‘harder’ skeletal structures, mummification materials, and even desiccated soft tissues. Potential evidence for an ‘opening of the mouth’ procedure was found in a snake, along with indicators of the poor conditions in which the snake was kept when alive, leading to dehydration. Examination of a cat mummy revealed it was less than five months old and had its neck purposefully broken. It was also possible to identify a bird mummy to species level from the X-ray data. Improved understanding of animal mummification through scientific imaging can thus inform conservation and understanding of past human-animal relationships. Journal Article Scientific Reports 10 1 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2045-2322 Egyptian mummified animals 1 12 2020 2020-12-01 10.1038/s41598-020-69726-0 COLLEGE NANME Materials Science and Engineering COLLEGE CODE MTLS Swansea University UKRI, EP/M028267/1 2023-08-18T13:56:09.7448054 2020-07-16T10:32:42.6953588 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Materials Science and Engineering Richard Johnston 0000-0003-1977-6418 1 Richard Thomas 2 Rhys Jones 3 Carolyn Graves-Brown 4 Wendy Goodridge 5 Laura North 6 54760__18008__9bd158517f924ae486cd3fa32f7a0a65.pdf 54760.s41598-020-69726-0.pdf 2020-08-21T09:38:05.8010322 Output 3705229 application/pdf Version of Record true Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY) Licence true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
spellingShingle Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
Richard Johnston
Carolyn Graves-Brown
Wendy Goodridge
Laura North
title_short Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
title_full Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
title_fullStr Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
title_full_unstemmed Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
title_sort Evidence of diet, deification, and death within ancient Egyptian mummified animals
author_id_str_mv 23282e7acce87dd926b8a62ae410a393
f68ec97a7672138d66c43843d22ad8e6
179f2a09cb8fd960838c7ee668cd4d42
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author_id_fullname_str_mv 23282e7acce87dd926b8a62ae410a393_***_Richard Johnston
f68ec97a7672138d66c43843d22ad8e6_***_Carolyn Graves-Brown
179f2a09cb8fd960838c7ee668cd4d42_***_Wendy Goodridge
a255822cf77a0184cb6922e9fbea39e9_***_Laura North
author Richard Johnston
Carolyn Graves-Brown
Wendy Goodridge
Laura North
author2 Richard Johnston
Richard Thomas
Rhys Jones
Carolyn Graves-Brown
Wendy Goodridge
Laura North
format Journal article
container_title Scientific Reports
container_volume 10
container_issue 1
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
issn 2045-2322
doi_str_mv 10.1038/s41598-020-69726-0
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
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department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Materials Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Materials Science and Engineering
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description The clues to life and death of mummified animals can remain hidden beneath their wrappings. Developments in non-invasive imaging have enabled detailed study of their internal structures. Laboratory-based X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) and focussed imaging protocols permit smaller mummified remains, such as animals, to be studied at higher resolution. In this study, we use microCT to image three different animal mummies. Revealing the internal structures provides insights into their biography, the conditions in which they were kept, complex mummification practices, possible causes of death, and subsequent handling damage. Thousands of years after the production of these mummified animals, the X-ray microCT technique facilitates new investigations, revealing ‘harder’ skeletal structures, mummification materials, and even desiccated soft tissues. Potential evidence for an ‘opening of the mouth’ procedure was found in a snake, along with indicators of the poor conditions in which the snake was kept when alive, leading to dehydration. Examination of a cat mummy revealed it was less than five months old and had its neck purposefully broken. It was also possible to identify a bird mummy to species level from the X-ray data. Improved understanding of animal mummification through scientific imaging can thus inform conservation and understanding of past human-animal relationships.
published_date 2020-12-01T13:56:10Z
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