TY - JOUR
T1 - Invasive versus Non invasive methods applied to mummy research
T2 - Will this controversy ever be solved?
AU - Moissidou, Despina
AU - Day, Jasmine
AU - Shin, Dong Hoon
AU - Bianucci, Raffaella
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Despina Moissidou et al.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Advances in the application of non invasive techniques to mummified remains have shed new light on past diseases. The virtual inspection of a corpse, which has almost completely replaced classical autopsy, has proven to be important especially when dealing with valuable museum specimens. In spite of some very rewarding results, there are still many open questions. Non invasive techniques provide information on hard and soft tissue pathologies and allow information to be gleaned concerning mummification practices (e.g., ancient Egyptian artificial mummification). Nevertheless, there are other fields of mummy studies in which the results provided by non invasive techniques are not always self-explanatory. Reliance exclusively upon virtual diagnoses can sometimes lead to inconclusive and misleading interpretations. On the other hand, several types of investigation (e.g., histology, paleomicrobiology, and biochemistry), although minimally invasive, require direct contact with the bodies and, for this reason, are often avoided, particularly by museum curators. Here we present an overview of the non invasive and invasive techniques currently used in mummy studies and propose an approach that might solve these conflicts.
AB - Advances in the application of non invasive techniques to mummified remains have shed new light on past diseases. The virtual inspection of a corpse, which has almost completely replaced classical autopsy, has proven to be important especially when dealing with valuable museum specimens. In spite of some very rewarding results, there are still many open questions. Non invasive techniques provide information on hard and soft tissue pathologies and allow information to be gleaned concerning mummification practices (e.g., ancient Egyptian artificial mummification). Nevertheless, there are other fields of mummy studies in which the results provided by non invasive techniques are not always self-explanatory. Reliance exclusively upon virtual diagnoses can sometimes lead to inconclusive and misleading interpretations. On the other hand, several types of investigation (e.g., histology, paleomicrobiology, and biochemistry), although minimally invasive, require direct contact with the bodies and, for this reason, are often avoided, particularly by museum curators. Here we present an overview of the non invasive and invasive techniques currently used in mummy studies and propose an approach that might solve these conflicts.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84939604153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1155/2015/192829
DO - 10.1155/2015/192829
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26345295
AN - SCOPUS:84939604153
SN - 2314-6133
VL - 2015
JO - BioMed Research International
JF - BioMed Research International
M1 - 192829
ER -