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75-670: The population of the Basketmaker people is likely not tied to one particular group of people, but reflective of the migration of agricultural people from the south and adoption of agriculture by local Archaic populations. For instance people on the Mogollon Rim of New Mexico had cultivated maize and adopted a less transitory lifestyle before the Early Basketmakers. Projectile points, a basketry style known as "two rod and bundle", and other similarities existed between

150-636: A hearth for cold weather, yet there was no evidence found of food cultivation . En Medio projectile points on the site that were of the Oshara tradition of the Archaic Southwest . Because it was a permanent or semi-permanent structure, the site may represent a precursor to the farming activities of the Early Basketmaker II. The Basketmakers used a "two-rod and bundle" technique to make baskets from about 1 to 700  CE . The basket

225-400: A mummy as follows: "A human or animal body desiccated by exposure to sun or air. Also applied to the frozen carcase of an animal imbedded in prehistoric snow". Wasps of the genus Aleiodes are known as "mummy wasps" because they wrap their caterpillar prey as "mummies". While interest in the study of mummies dates as far back as Ptolemaic Greece , most structured scientific study began at

300-411: A naturally occurring salt, for 70 days. Herodotus insists that the body did not stay in the natron longer than 70 days. Any shorter time and the body would not be completely dehydrated; any longer, and the body would be too stiff to move into position for wrapping. The embalmers then washed the body again and wrapped it with linen bandages. The bandages were covered with a gum that modern research has shown

375-466: A number of factors. One such factor was the airtight seal (especially as the Korean climate is unfavorable to mummification) around the bodies, which was achieved using a mix of lime , clay, and sand. Recreations of the sealing process found that chemical reactions with the lime possibly caused a high and prolonged release of heat, which killed bacteria in the bodies. In addition, a large amount of clothing

450-515: A rescue excavation in the e 'Asi al-Hadath cave in the Qadisha Valley of Lebanon . The well-preserved spontaneous mummies, including an infant named dubbed Yasmine, offer insights into Maronite villagers' lives during the Mamluk era. The grotto's high altitude and dry conditions naturally mummified the bodies. The discovery provides historical context, aligning with documented Mamluk raids in

525-558: A single culture, such as those from the ancient Egyptian culture and the Andean cultures of South America. Some of the later well-preserved corpses of the mummification were found under Christian churches , such as the mummified vicar Nicolaus Rungius found under the St. Michael Church in Keminmaa , Finland . There are also cases that fall outside of these categories. Until recently, it

600-527: A symbolic meal for her last journey. Her left arm and hand were tattooed with animal style figures, including a highly stylized deer . The Ice Maiden has been a source of some recent controversy. The mummy's skin has suffered some slight decay, and the tattoos have faded since the excavation. Some residents of the Altai Republic , formed after the breakup of the Soviet Union , have requested

675-602: A very close relative. However, Xin Zhui's body was the only one of the three to be mummified. Her corpse was so well-preserved that surgeons from the Hunan Provincial Medical Institute were able to perform an autopsy. The exact reason why her body was so completely preserved has yet to be determined. Among the mummies discovered in China are those termed Tarim mummies because of their discovery in

750-424: Is both a waterproofing agent and an antimicrobial agent. At this point, the body was given back to the family. These "perfect" mummies were then placed in human-shaped wooden cases. Wealthy people placed these wooden cases in stone sarcophagi that provided further protection. The family placed the sarcophagus in the tomb upright against the wall, according to Herodotus. The second process that Herodotus describes

825-527: Is home to a diverse spectrum of spontaneous and anthropogenic mummies. Some of the best-preserved mummies have come from bogs located across the region. The Capuchin monks that inhabited the area left behind hundreds of intentionally-preserved bodies that have provided insight into the customs and cultures of people from various eras. One of the oldest mummies (nicknamed Ötzi ) was discovered on this continent. New mummies continue to be uncovered in Europe well into

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900-467: Is made with bundles of thin, pliable twigs and yucca fibers. The bundles were coiled into a spiral pattern and sewn in place with strips of yucca leaves about 3 mm wide. Baskets were used to gather, store and cook food. The basket was made during the period when people were still semi- nomadic . The Early Basketmakers' personal belongings included: The cultural groups of this period include: Basketmaker culture The Basketmaker culture of

975-631: Is one of only two known which show the wrapping of a mummy (Riggs 2014). Another text that describes the processes being used in the latter periods is Herodotus ' Histories . Written in Book 2 of the Histories is one of the most detailed descriptions of the Egyptian mummification process, including the mention of using natron in order to dehydrate corpses for preservation. However, these descriptions are short and fairly vague, leaving scholars to infer

1050-560: Is some evidence of deliberate mummification, most sources state that desiccation occurred naturally due to unique conditions within the crypts. The Capuchin Crypt in Brno contains three hundred years of mummified remains directly below the main altar. Beginning in the 18th century when the crypt was opened, and continuing until the practice was discontinued in 1787, the Capuchin friars of

1125-663: The African continent . The bodies show a mix of anthropogenic and spontaneous mummification, with some being thousands of years old. The mummies of the Canary Islands belong to the indigenous Guanche people and date to the time before 14th-century Spanish explorers settled in the area. All deceased people within the Guanche culture were mummified during this time, though the level of care taken with embalming and burial varied depending on individual social status. Embalming

1200-641: The Basketmaker III Era (about AD 500–750) when bow-and-arrow technology replaced the spear and atlatl used since the Archaic period of the Americas . The following periods, the Pueblo Eras, saw the introduction of above-ground, multi-roomed masonry dwellings, more efficient stone tools, garments made of cotton or turkey feathers, and the introduction of the ceremonial kiva . Throughout

1275-597: The Colorado Plateau in small bands to collect ripe wild plants and hunted game. Roaming also put them in contact with other tribes with whom they socialized, traded, and sometimes inter-married. Cultivation of maize began about 500 BCE, which affected their mobility. Dwellings of this period included caves and other shelters, often built below ground and lined with stone. Maize and squash were first cultivated more than 8,700 years ago in southwestern Mexico. Between 1000 and 2000 BCE maize and squash were found on

1350-479: The Colorado Plateau of the present United States . By 500 BCE maize was routinely cultivated and a major source of food in the Basketmakers' diet. Cultivating maize allowed the Basketmakers control over their food supply; They cultivated what they needed and stored surplus ground corn for later consumption. At first maize did not significantly modify their nomadic lifestyle. After the early Basketmakers planted

1425-460: The Tarim Basin . The dry desert climate of the basin proved to be an excellent agent for desiccation. For this reason, over 200 Tarim mummies, which are over 4,000 years old, were excavated from a cemetery in the present-day Xinjiang region. The mummies were found buried in upside-down boats with hundreds of 13-foot-long wooden poles in the place of tombstones. DNA sequence data shows that

1500-521: The Tollund Man was discovered in 1950. The corpse was noted for its excellent preservation of the face and feet, which appeared as if the man had recently died. Only the head of Tollund Man remains, due to the decomposition of the rest of his body, which was not preserved along with the head. The majority of mummies recovered in the Czech Republic come from underground crypts. While there

1575-433: The bituminous embalming substance. This word was borrowed from Persian where it meant asphalt , and is derived from the word mūm meaning wax. The meaning of "corpse preserved by desiccation" developed post-medievally. The Medieval English term "mummy" was defined as "medical preparation of the substance of mummies", rather than the entire corpse, with Richard Hakluyt in 1599 AD complaining that "these dead bodies are

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1650-426: The papyri that have survived only describe the ceremonial rituals involved in embalming, not the actual surgical processes involved. A text known as The Ritual of Embalming does describe some of the practical logistics of embalming; however, there are only two known copies and each is incomplete. With regards to mummification shown in images, there are apparently also very few. The tomb of Tjay, designated TT23 ,

1725-576: The 14th and 19th centuries. Mummies have been discovered in Korea that have been dated to around the 15th to 19th centuries, during the Joseon period. This is thought to be because of the rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea , which prescribed certain burial practices that created conditions favorable to mummification. However, this mummification was likely unintentional, and even culturally seen as ominous and undesirable. Mummification likely occurred due to

1800-659: The 20th century. In 1992, the First World Congress on Mummy Studies was held in Puerto de la Cruz on Tenerife in the Canary Islands . More than 300 scientists attended the Congress to share nearly 100 years of collected data on mummies. The information presented at the meeting triggered a new surge of interest in the subject, with one of the major results being the integration of biomedical and bioarchaeological information on mummies with existing databases. This

1875-539: The 21st century. Great Britain , Ireland , Germany , the Netherlands , Sweden , and Denmark have produced a number of bog bodies , mummies of people deposited in sphagnum bogs , apparently as a result of murder or ritual sacrifices. In such cases, the acidity of the water, low temperature and lack of oxygen combined to tan the body's skin and soft tissues. The skeleton typically disintegrates over time. Such mummies are remarkably well preserved on emerging from

1950-596: The Ancestral Puebloan cultural eras, water was the most important resource. In the lowlands the climate was an arid land of juniper and sage. At about 6,000 feet (1,800 m) in elevation the climate was a moister land of pinyon trees. The cultural groups of this period include: Mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals , extreme cold, very low humidity , or lack of air, so that

2025-809: The Basketmakers II and the people of the San Pedro stage of the Cochise tradition . To adopt the Basketmaker lifestyle, Archaic people would have adopted the cultivation of maize, a less mobile lifestyle and taken up residence in pit-houses. Other differences between the Archaic and Basketmaker cultures were the forms of basketry, symbols used in petroglyphs, burial practices and increase in traded items. The Early Basketmakers were primarily nomadic hunter gatherers for most of this period. They roamed

2100-468: The Douzlakh Salt Mine at Chehr Abad in northwestern Iran . Due to their salt preservation, these bodies are collectively known as Saltmen . Carbon-14 testing conducted in 2008 dated three of the bodies to around 400 BC. Later isotopic research on the other mummies returned similar dates, however, many of these individuals were found to be from a region that is not closely associated with

2175-572: The Egyptian animal mummies are sacred ibis , and radiocarbon dating suggests the Egyptian ibis mummies that have been analyzed were from a time frame that falls between approximately 450 and 250 BC. In addition to the mummies of ancient Egypt , deliberate mummification was a feature of several ancient cultures in areas of America and Asia with very dry climates. The Spirit Cave mummies of Fallon, Nevada , in North America were accurately dated at more than 9,400 years old. Before this discovery,

2250-627: The Mummy which the Phisistians and Apothecaries doe against our willes make us to swallow". These substances were called mummia . The Oxford English Dictionary defines a mummy as "the body of a human being or animal embalmed (according to the ancient Egyptian or some analogous method) as a preparation for burial", citing sources from 1615 AD onward. However, Chamber's Cyclopædia and the Victorian zoologist Francis Trevelyan Buckland define

2325-891: The National Museum of Beirut. In 1993, a team of Russian archaeologists led by Dr. Natalia Polosmak discovered the Siberian Ice Maiden , a Scytho -Siberian woman, on the Ukok Plateau in the Altai Mountains near the Mongolian border. The mummy was naturally frozen due to the severe climatic conditions of the Siberian steppe. Also known as Princess Ukok, the mummy was dressed in finely detailed clothing and wore an elaborate headdress and jewelry. Alongside her body were buried six decorated horses and

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2400-576: The beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this, many rediscovered mummies were sold as curiosities or for use in pseudoscientific novelties such as mummia . The first modern scientific examinations of mummies began in 1901, conducted by professors at the English-language Government School of Medicine in Cairo , Egypt. The first X-ray of a mummy came in 1903, when professors Grafton Elliot Smith and Howard Carter used

2475-654: The bodies to decay in a matter of hours. An example of a Chinese mummy that was preserved despite being buried in an environment not conducive to mummification is Xin Zhui . Also known as Lady Dai, she was discovered in the early 1970s at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha . She was the wife of the Marquis of Dai during the Han dynasty , who was also buried with her alongside another young man often considered to be

2550-400: The body. This process typically took forty days. After dehydration, the mummy was wrapped in many layers of linen cloth. Within the layers, Egyptian priests placed small amulets to guard the decedent from evil. Once the mummy was completely wrapped, it was coated in resin in order to keep the threat of moist air away. The resin was also applied to the coffin in order to seal it. The mummy

2625-580: The bog, with skin and internal organs intact; it is even possible to determine the decedent's last meal by examining stomach contents. The Haraldskær Woman was discovered by labourers in a bog in Jutland in 1835. She was erroneously identified as an early medieval Danish queen, and for that reason was placed in a royal sarcophagus at the Saint Nicolai Church, Vejle , where she currently remains. Another bog body, also from Denmark, known as

2700-492: The brain via the cranium, which then drained out the nose by gravity. The embalmers then rinsed the skull with certain drugs that mostly cleared any residue of brain tissue and also had the effect of killing bacteria. Next, the embalmers made an incision along the flank with a sharp blade fashioned from an Ethiopian stone and removed the contents of the abdomen. Herodotus does not discuss the separate preservation of these organs and their placement either in special jars or back in

2775-427: The brain was much easier when the brain was liquefied and allowed to drain with the help of gravity , as opposed to trying to pull the organ out piece by piece with a hook. Through various methods of study over many decades, modern Egyptologists now have an accurate understanding of how mummification was achieved in ancient Egypt. The first and most important step was to halt the process of decomposition, by removing

2850-448: The cavity, a process that was part of the most expensive embalming, according to archaeological evidence. The abdominal cavity was then rinsed with palm wine and an infusion of crushed, fragrant herbs and spices; the cavity was then filled with spices including myrrh , cassia , and, Herodotus notes, "every other sort of spice except frankincense ", also to preserve the person. The body was further dehydrated by placing it in natron ,

2925-682: The coast of the Pacific Ocean , would have been obtained through trade. In the Early Basketmaker II Era people lived a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle with the introduction of cultivation of corn, which led to a more settled, agrarian life. Some of the early people lived in cave shelters in the San Juan River drainage. Excavation of their sites yielded a large number of baskets, for which they received their name, corn and evidence of human burials. It

3000-519: The creation of elaborate tombs , and more sophisticated methods of embalming. By the 4th dynasty (about 2600 BC) Egyptian embalmers began to achieve "true mummification" through a process of evisceration . Much of this early experimentation with mummification in Egypt is unknown. The few documents that directly describe the mummification process date to the Greco-Roman period . The majority of

3075-423: The dead had a profound effect on ancient Egyptian religion . Mummification was an integral part of the rituals for the dead beginning as early as the 2nd dynasty (about 2800 BC). Egyptians saw the preservation of the body after death as an important step to living well in the afterlife . As Egypt gained more prosperity, burial practices became a status symbol for the wealthy as well. This cultural hierarchy led to

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3150-647: The earliest mummies in the Tarim Basin were exclusively Caucasoid, or Europoid " with "east Asian migrants arriving in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin around 3,000 years ago", while Mair also notes that it was not until 842 that the Uighur peoples settled in the area. Other mummified remains have been recovered from around the Tarim Basin at sites including Qäwrighul , Yanghai , Shengjindian , Shanpula (Sampul), Zaghunluq, and Qizilchoqa. As of 2012, at least eight mummified human remains have been recovered from

3225-419: The embalmers offered was to clear the intestines with an unnamed liquid, injected as an enema . The body was then placed in natron for seventy days and returned to the family. Herodotus gives no further details. In Christian tradition, some bodies of saints are naturally conserved and venerated. In addition to the mummies of Egypt, there have been instances of mummies being discovered in other areas of

3300-417: The grave. Mummies from various dynasties throughout China 's history have been discovered in several locations across the country. They are almost exclusively considered to be unintentional mummifications. Many areas in which mummies have been uncovered are difficult for preservation, due to their warm, moist climates. This makes the recovery of mummies a challenge, as exposure to the outside world can cause

3375-422: The human body is believed to be a quintessential feature of Egyptian life. Yet even mummification has a history of development and was accessible to different ranks of society in different ways during different periods. There were at least three different processes of mummification according to Herodotus . They range from "the most perfect" to the method employed by the "poorer classes". The most expensive process

3450-399: The infant to between 5,000 and 8,000 years old. A long incision located on the right abdominal wall, and the absence of internal organs, indicated that the body had been eviscerated post-mortem , possibly in an effort to preserve the remains. A bundle of herbs found within the body cavity also supported this conclusion. Further research revealed that the child had been around 30 months old at

3525-467: The internal organs and washing out the body with a mix of spices and palm wine. The only organ left behind was the heart, as tradition held the heart was the seat of thought and feeling and would therefore still be needed in the afterlife. After cleansing, the body was then dried out with natron inside the empty body cavity as well as outside on the skin. The internal organs were also dried and either sealed in individual jars, or wrapped to be replaced within

3600-403: The majority of the techniques that were used by studying mummies that have been unearthed. By utilizing current advancements in technology, scientists have been able to uncover a plethora of new information about the techniques used in mummification. A series of CT scans performed on a 2,400-year-old mummy in 2008 revealed a tool that was left inside the cranial cavity of the skull. The tool

3675-469: The mine. It was during this time that researchers determined the mine suffered a major collapse, which likely caused the death of the miners. Since there is significant archaeological data that indicates the area was not actively inhabited during this time period, current consensus holds that the accident occurred during a brief period of temporary mining activity. In 1990, a team of speleologists uncovered eight mummies, dating back to around 1283 AD, during

3750-632: The monastery would lay the deceased on a pillow of bricks on the ground. The unique air quality and topsoil within the crypt naturally preserved the bodies over time. Approximately fifty mummies were discovered in an abandoned crypt beneath the Church of St. Procopius of Sázava in Vamberk in the mid-1980s. Workers digging a trench accidentally broke into the crypt, which began to fill with waste water. The mummies quickly began to deteriorate, though thirty-four were able to be rescued and stored temporarily at

3825-457: The most common being for religious purposes. Spontaneous mummies, such as Ötzi and the Maronite mummies , were created unintentionally due to natural conditions such as extremely dry heat or cold, or acidic and anaerobic conditions such as those found in bogs . While most individual mummies exclusively belong to one category or the other, there are examples of both types being connected to

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3900-600: The mummies had Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) characteristic of western Eurasia in the area of East-Central Europe , Central Asia and the Indus Valley . This has created a stir in the Turkic-speaking Uighur population of the region, who claim the area has always belonged to their culture, while it was not until the 10th century that Uighurs are said by scholars to have moved to the region from Central Asia. American Sinologist Victor H. Mair claims that "

3975-594: The mummy be returned shortly after the body was moved to the Albany Museum in Grahamstown . The mummies of Asia are usually considered to be accidental. The decedents were buried in just the right place where the environment could act as an agent for preservation. This is particularly common in the desert areas of the Tarim Basin and Iran. Mummies have been discovered in more humid Asian climates; however, these are subject to rapid decay after being removed from

4050-401: The nostrils can be digitally reconstructed in 3-D . Such modelling has been utilized to perform digital autopsies on mummies to determine the cause of death and lifestyle, such as in the case of Tutankhamun . Mummies are typically divided into one of two distinct categories: anthropogenic or spontaneous. Anthropogenic mummies were deliberately created by the living for any number of reasons,

4125-750: The oldest known deliberate mummy was a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile, which dates around 5050 BC. The oldest known naturally mummified human corpse is a severed head dated as 6,000 years old, found in 1936 at the Cueva de las Momias in Argentina. The English word mummy is derived from medieval Latin Mumia , a borrowing of the medieval Arabic word mūmiya (مومياء) which meant an embalmed corpse, as well as

4200-484: The only X-ray machine in Cairo at the time to examine the mummified body of Thutmose IV . British chemist Alfred Lucas applied chemical analyses to Egyptian mummies during this same period, which returned many results about the types of substances used in embalming. Lucas also made significant contributions to the analysis of Tutankhamun in 1922. Pathological study of mummies saw varying levels of popularity throughout

4275-841: The pre- Ancestral Puebloans began about 1500 BC and continued until about AD 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era . The prehistoric American southwestern culture was named "Basketmaker" for the large number of baskets found at archaeological sites of 3,000 to 2,000 years ago. Well-preserved mummies found in dry caves provide insight into the ancient Basketmakers. Women were about 5 feet tall and men were 3 to 4 inches taller. They had long, narrow faces and medium to stocky build. Their skin varied from light to dark brown and they had brown or black hair and eyes. Fancy hairstyles were sometimes worn by men and infrequently by women. Women's hair may have been cut short; Significant quantities of rope made of human hair have been recovered and since it

4350-544: The recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least the early 17th century. Mummies of humans and animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. Many of

4425-416: The region. Artifacts, including pottery with inscriptions, manuscripts, and clothing, suggest a Maronite community, and the mummies' burial practices parallel present-day Lebanese customs. The remains were called "Maronite mummies" because the individuals found in the 'Asi-al Hadath cave were believed to be Maronites , an indigenous Christian community in the region. Some of the mummies have been transferred to

4500-812: The return of the Ice Maiden, who is currently stored in Novosibirsk in Siberia . Another Siberian mummy, a man, was discovered much earlier in 1929. His skin was also marked with tattoos of two monsters resembling griffins , which decorated his chest, and three partially obliterated images which seem to represent two deer and a mountain goat on his left arm. Philippine mummies are called Kabayan Mummies . They are common in Igorot culture and their heritage. The mummies are found in some areas named Kabayan , Sagada and among others. The mummies are dated between

4575-407: The seed, they continued roaming for game and other wild foods. Just as they followed the seasonal growing cycles for wild plants, like pinyon nuts , they returned to harvest their crops when it was ripe for picking. While they lived their nomadic lifestyle, though, the unattended crops were eaten by deer, birds, and rodents. This required the Basketmakers to stay by their crop and protect it until it

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4650-675: The time of death, though gender could not be determined due to poor preservation of the sex organs. The first mummy to be discovered in South Africa was found in the Baviaanskloof Wilderness Area by Dr. Johan Binneman in 1999. Nicknamed Moses, the mummy was estimated to be around 2,000 years old. After being linked to the indigenous Khoi culture of the region, the National Council of Khoi Chiefs of South Africa began to make legal demands that

4725-489: The winter of 1958–1959 in the natural cave structure of Uan Muhuggiag . After curious deposits and cave paintings were discovered on the surfaces of the cave, expedition leaders decided to excavate. Uncovered alongside fragmented animal bone tools was the mummified body of an infant, wrapped in animal skin and wearing a necklace made of ostrich egg shell beads. Professor Tongiorgi of the University of Pisa radiocarbon-dated

4800-480: Was a rod, made of an organic material, that was used to break apart the brain to allow it to drain out of the nose. This discovery helped to dispel the claim within Herodotus' works that the rod had been a hook made of iron. Earlier experimentation in 1994 by researchers Bob Brier and Ronald Wade supported these findings. While attempting to replicate Egyptian mummification, Brier and Wade discovered that removal of

4875-682: Was believed that the earliest ancient Egyptian mummies were created naturally due to the environment in which they were buried. In 2014, an 11-year study by the University of York , Macquarie University and the University of Oxford suggested that artificial mummification occurred 1,500 years earlier than first thought. This was confirmed in 2018, when tests on a 5,600-year-old mummy in Turin revealed that it had been deliberately mummified using linen wrappings and embalming oils made from conifer resin and aromatic plant extracts. The preservation of

4950-571: Was carried out by specialized groups, organized according to gender, who were considered unclean by the rest of the community. The techniques for embalming were similar to those of the ancient Egyptians, involving evisceration, preservation, and stuffing of the evacuated bodily cavities, then wrapping the body in animal skins. Despite the successful techniques utilized by the Guanche, very few mummies remain due to looting and desecration. The mummified remains of an infant were discovered during an expedition by archaeologist Fabrizio Mori to Libya during

5025-561: Was more likely that men had fancy hairstyles, the hair for rope may have come from women. The Basketmakers wore sandals made of woven yucca fibers or strips of leaves. There is little evidence of clothing aside from a few loin-cloths found at archaeological sites. Women may have worn aprons on special occasions. Hides or blankets made of yucca fibers and rabbit fur were likely for warmth. Both men and women wore necklaces, bracelets and pendants made of shell, stone, bone and dried berries. Shells, such as abalone , conus and olivella from

5100-403: Was not possible prior to the Congress due to the unique and highly specialized techniques required to gather such data. In more recent years, CT scanning has become an invaluable tool in the study of mummification by allowing researchers to digitally "unwrap" mummies without risking damage to the body. The level of detail in such scans is so intricate that small linens used in tiny areas such as

5175-496: Was not until the Late Basketmaker II Era (about AD 50–500) that people lived in permanent dwellings, crude pit-houses made of brush, logs and earth. During the later portion of this period fired pottery was introduced to the Basketmakers, which due to regional and evolutionary differences greatly aided in dating and tracking pottery origins following archaeological excavations. Hunting became much easier during

5250-452: Was ready to be harvested. Once harvested, they created storage pits to protect the seeds for the following year's crops and surplus food from being eaten by insects and rodents. The pits were lined and covered with slabs of stone and bark and tightly sealed with adobe. The earliest pit-house dwelling (405–75 BCE) in southwestern Colorado is located on Sleeping Ute Mountain on the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe reservation (site 5MT10525). It had

5325-454: Was then placed in natron for seventy days. At the end of this time, the body was removed and the cedar oil, now containing the liquefied organs, was drained through the rectum . With the body dehydrated, it could be returned to the family. Herodotus does not describe the process of burial of such mummies, but they were perhaps placed in a shaft tomb . Poorer people used coffins fashioned from terracotta . The third and least expensive method

5400-435: Was then sealed within its tomb, alongside the worldly goods that were believed to help aid it in the afterlife. Aspergillus niger , a hardy species of fungus capable of living in a variety of environments, has been found in the mummies of ancient Egyptian tombs and can be inhaled when they are disturbed. Mummification is one of the defining customs in ancient Egyptian society for people today. The practice of preserving

5475-404: Was to preserve the body by dehydration and protect against pests, such as insects. Almost all of the actions Herodotus described served one of these two functions. First, the brain was removed from the cranium through the nose; the gray matter was discarded. Modern mummy excavations have shown that instead of an iron hook inserted through the nose as Herodotus claims, a rod was used to liquefy

5550-446: Was used by middle-class people or people who "wish to avoid expense". In this method, an oil derived from cedar trees was injected with a syringe into the abdomen. A rectal plug prevented the oil from escaping. This oil probably had the dual purpose of liquefying the internal organs but also of disinfecting the abdominal cavity. (By liquefying the organs, the family avoided the expense of canopic jars and separate preservation.) The body

5625-451: Was usually placed inside tombs, which led to a shortage of oxygen inside. Mummies buried using the lime mixture sealing technique reportedly have especially excellently preserved soft skin and hair, which has enabled medical and genetic studies to be performed. Insights have been offered into the lifestyles and pathologies of Korean people during this period. Specific diseases for each individual have been identified. The European continent

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