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A team of scientists has pioneered a new method of uncovering clues to a 1,900-year-old mummy without damaging the ancient corpse.
CT and X-ray scans were combined for the first time to study an Egyptian mummy discovered at Hawara, an archaeological site in Egypt.
While X-ray technology has been used to examine mummies for nearly 100 years, the combination of X-ray diffraction with CT scanning is entirely new and provides much higher resolution images, according to findings published Tuesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
A CT can was used to form a “three-dimensional roadmap” of the mummy’s content, “lead author Stuart Stock told CNN.
The experts then projected X-ray rays thinner than a human hair onto the corpse to identify the objects contained within its enclosures.
While X-ray technology has been used to examine mummies for nearly 100 years, scientists have combined X-ray diffraction with CT scanning in a whole new way, providing much higher resolution images, according to research published Tuesday.
A CT can was used to form a “three-dimensional roadmap” of the mummy’s contents, “lead author Stuart Stock told CNN. The experts then projected X-rays thinner than a human hair onto the corpse to identify the objects contained in its casings
“The X-rays emit what is essentially a characteristic fingerprint of the material,” said Stock, a researcher at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
But what the researchers – from Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, and Denver’s Metropolitan State University – found surprised them.
The corpse did not belong to an adult woman, as previously believed, but to a little girl who had not developed her permanent teeth, according to Phys.org. It is believed that the girl was about five years old when she died.
A small piece of pure calcium carbonate was identified in its casings, which experts believed to be a beetle.
The corpse did not belong to an adult woman, as previously believed, but to a little girl who had not developed her permanent teeth, according to Phys.org. It is believed that the girl was about five years old when she died
Scans show the mummy’s skeleton inside and a number of green objects believed to be metal pins left behind by previous researchers
When preparing a body for mummification, the priests placed amulets between the layers of linen used to wrap the deceased person.
Beetles, which were associated with the ancient Egyptian sun god King, were often placed within the abdomen of bodies during mummification.
![Scarab amulets like the one above were often placed between the casings of a mummy. True beetles were also sometimes included [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/11/25/20/36112146-8987305-image-a-20_1606337933478.jpg)
Scarab amulets like the one above were often placed between the casings of a mummy. True beetles were also sometimes included [File photo]
“This opaque object is just the right shape for a beetle,” Stock told CNN. “The scarab is the symbol of rebirth.”
The discovery offered new clues to the mummy’s social status.
‘This person was at the top of the company. They could afford to have a scarab and a mummification, which required an enormous amount of resources, “Stock said.
The scans revealed even more clues about the baby inside, also ruling out some potential causes of death.
“There appears to have been no skeletal trauma,” Stock told CNN, which means the baby is unlikely to have died a violent death.
However, their actual cause of death remains a mystery.
The new information added to what experts could already determine from a portrait attached to the mummy.
The figure depicted wears a hairstyle dated between 150 and 200 AD
Next to the intact painting (right) you can see a scan of a portrait of the mummy (left). Such portraits were common during 1st century mummifications and usually depicted the person inside the casings, leading researchers to initially believe the mummy contained the body of an adult woman.
Portraits were often attached to mummies in the first century, usually depicting the person inside. The portrait on this mummy, on the other hand, is of an adult woman so it is not clear whether the painting is of someone else or an imagined image of the child as an adult.
The researchers believe the new scanning technique could be extended to other mummy studies, allowing specialists to examine corpses without tampering with them.
‘Back in the day [in Victorian times], they would take them apart, “Stock told CNN.
“We don’t like doing it anymore.”
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