Synchrotron "virtual archaeozoology" reveals how Ancient Egyptians prepared a decaying crocodile cadaver for mummification.

Autor: Berruyer C; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.; ArchéOrient-UMR 5133, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée-Jean Pouilloux, Lyon, France., Porcier SM; Laboratoire CNRS 'Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes'-UMR 5140, LabEx ARCHIMEDE, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France.; Laboratoire CNRS HiSoMa-UMR 5189, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée-Jean Pouilloux, Lyon, France., Tafforeau P; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2020 Feb 21; Vol. 15 (2), pp. e0229140. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Feb 21 (Print Publication: 2020).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229140
Abstrakt: Although Ancient Egyptians mummified millions of animals over the course of one millennium, many details of these mummification protocols remain unknown. Multi-scale propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography was used to visualise an ancient Egyptian crocodile mummy housed at the Musée des Confluences (Lyon, France). This state-of-the-art non-destructive imaging technique revealed the complete interior anatomy of the mummy in three dimensions. Here, we present detailed insight into the complex post-mortem treatment of a decaying crocodile cadaver in preparation for mummification. Except for the head and the extremities of the limbs, everything beneath the skin of the crocodile (i.e. organs, muscles, and even most of the skeleton) was removed to cease further putrefaction. This unexpected finding demonstrates that earlier knowledge obtained from textual and other archaeological sources does not sufficiently reflect the diversity of mummification protocols implemented by Ancient Egyptians.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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