The researchers used CT (computed tomography) technique and a new combination X-ray disruption To reveal clues about Roman-era Egyptian mummies found in Howrah, Egypt.
For nearly a century, Egyptian mummies have been given a non-vehicle image by X-ray. In findings published in the Journal of the Royal Society on Tuesday, a team of researchers uncovered signs inside an ancient corpse, described for the first time, using a combination of CT scanning and X-ray disruption.
To create a “three-dimensional roadmap” of mom’s contents using CT scans, experts glared at X-ray beams smaller than the diameter of human hair on mom to identify things inside her hair wraps, said lead author Stuart Stock. CNN
“X-rays are essentially the fingerprints that characterize a material,” said Stock, a researcher at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Experts from Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory and the Metropolitan State University of Denver found the body to be associated with a year-old child – they were surprised.
Researchers found a small amount of highly refined calcium carbonate in the mummy, which they believe is the right shape for a scar beb, which was traditionally inserted into the abdomen during mummification.
“This opaque substance is about the right shape for a scarb,” Stock explains. “Scarb is a symbol of rebirth,” he added.
This thing gives more clues about mom’s social status – although not royalty, “if this was in the high church of the society” if any pure material was used in her funeral.
“They are likely to be scrubbed and mummified, which requires a huge amount of resources,” he said.
Body studies also showed the child, who was considered a girl, did not endure a violent ending.
“It looks like there was no skeletal trauma,” Stoke said. “We don’t know why this little kid died.”
A portrait attached to the mummy also reveals more clues about its occupant, with the hairstyle dating the mummy between 150 and 200. The portrait mummies contain a lifetime painting of the deceased included in mom’s wrappings and placed on the person’s face.
Experts believe that this technique can be used for further study on mummies, giving more clues about the object buried with the ancient corpse, without the need to disturb and tamper with the body.
“In the last days (in Victorian times), they’d take them apart,” Stock told CNN. “We don’t like to do that anymore.”
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