engleski

Human and nonhuman radiological bone identification in mummies

BACKGROUND One of the first tasks forensic anthropologists are faced with is to estimate the forensic significance of a skeletal find by determining whether or not the remains belong to human. This is an important step in bone identification because skeletal parts of a wide variety of animals are often submitted to departments of forensic medicine as supposedly human. The identification in such cases depends on the preservation and size of the sample and ranges from macroscopical to histological and molecular analysis of the bone. In some cases, radiological examination adds important details to the interpretation of the material. AIMS We present a particular case where a forensic anthropologist and radiologist were requested to identify the mummified remains of animals curated in the Archeological Museum in Zagreb, Croatia. The main purpose of the analysis was to identify the taxon and attest the stage of preservation of the delicate remains. The specialists were requested also to analyze two mummified hands in order to attest whether they come from humans or primates. METHODS A total of seven remains were analyzed in the study: five remains of unidentified animals and two mummified hands. The remains were examined by radiologic analysis at the University Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Dubrava University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia and included x-ray and MSCT imaging. RESULTS and CONCLUSION Mummification of animals was a common practice in ancient Egypt performed as a funerary rite for pets and worshiped animals or simply as an offering to gods. Although the animals were usually mummified in manner to conserve their external appearance, this was not the case in our study. Paleoradiologic examination helped to overcome this issue and allowed a noninvasive study of the remains. We were able to identify two animal species (a cat and the remains of crocodile hatchlings) while the third could not be identified with certainty. Another mummy that had no natural structure preserved was classified as an imitation of an ibis. The two hands were identified as being human, one belonging to an adult and the other to a two-year old child. In addition, the poster will present the history of animal mummification practice in ancient Egypt, describe the main steps undertaken in examining the radiological finds, point out the main differences between primate and human hand anatomy and

bone identification ; mummy ; nonhuman remains ; paleoradiology

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