Essay, Research Paper: Mummy Preservation: A Physical Anthropological View

Understanding mummy preservation is an important part of physical anthropology. Concentration is placed on areas of osteology including skeletal analysis and structure. Skin, hair, and tissue are commonly examined to comprehend exterior composition. Physical anthropologists can acquire knowledge of past peoples, which aids in the study of today’s peoples. New technologies are providing scientists with the key to unlocking new doors. There are many contributing factors that surround the study of mummies, leading scientists into new fields of territory.
The origin of a mummy is determined by a variety of different situations. After a person or animal dies, the body decomposes from bacteria. This process attacks the flesh, leaving only skeletal remains. This type of situation is the most common occurring, but there is another alternative called mummification. This is where the fleshy parts of a body are preserved due to nature or by the preparation of other humans. Bacteria need moisture, warmth, or oxygen to cause decay. Many different types of environmental conditions and humanistic rituals contribute to the type of mummy that’s presented. The most common characteristic between all types of mummies is the prevention of bacteria rotting the body.
It’s amazing how scientists are finding the preserved remains of past peoples. It unlocks many secrets about how certain people lived. I close my eyes and try to visualize that moment of discovery. Science aside, I think it’s a creepy field to work in. While most discovery’s are triumphant times, they are also disgusting times. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught anywhere near a mummy. I don’t have the stomach to be around the dead. Movies are a different story, but in real life...no.
Nature plays a strong role in preserving a mummy and helping scientists to make interpretations about past cultures. Freezing temperatures can prevent a body from decomposing. One of the oldest well-preserved mummies in the world is known as “the Ice Man.” A group of hikers travelling through the European Alps stumbled upon this mummy preserved safely in a glacier. Scientists were able to determine that the mummy was roughly 5,300 years old by studying the tools and clothing that rested beside him. That makes me wonder if the people of today could be discovered 5,300 years into the future. As scientists uncover tools of the past, I imagine what life was like so long ago. It makes me appreciate the provisions that are made available in today’s society. Why did it take humans this long to get to where we are now? I often think about the idea of something like electricity being invented 3000 years before it actually happened. Where would today’s technology be? What kind of tools would Scientists have access to? It’s a mind scrambler that continues to question me.
A bog is another example of nature preserving a body. These marshy wet areas lack oxygen due to peat moss, which makes it difficult for bacteria to grow. This type of preservation environment creates a different variation in the appearance of these mummies. Most of them have a leathery stretched semblance. These mummies are typically found in Europe. I realized that a group of bog mummies found in Denmark show some aspects of past cultural behaviors. Scientists determined that one particular mummy was strangled with a rope and thrown into the bog. I think these people were killed as a result of human sacrifice or perhaps a form of punishment.
Scientists believe that bog mummies were a result of human beings thrown into a bog and nature did the rest. What if nature acted as a silent influence on that particular culture, persuading the group to place these people in the bogs? There may be some type of supernatural force in which nature purposely preserves the body so those scientists of today have something to study. It’s nature’s twisted way of helping us understand past and future life. Although I believe this theory is possible, it makes me sound too anthropocentric. I cannot confidently say that humans are the main ingredients for figuring out the history of life on earth. There must be a bigger picture that we are incapable of seeing.
The mummy of an Inca girl was discovered atop of the 18,070-foot Mt. Sara Sara in Peru. Resting beside her were many artifacts such as coca leaves, shells, llamas, and statuettes, which scientists determined were traditional offerings to mountain gods. More common offerings from the Inka were textiles, guinea pigs, and incense. According to scientists, the Inka would sacrifice children after military defeat, and during desperate times of famine and disease among the group.
The more scientists uncover these facts and discoveries, the less I understand. I couldn’t imagine living in a society where child sacrifices are considered a social norm. Although my own personal beliefs go against holistic theory, I do have respect for cultural relativism. However, I personally couldn’t have sympathy for a group of people that murders children. Maybe that labels me a stereotype, because I close my eyes to everything else about the Inka culture.
Man-made mummies are the most popular known among common folk. Early Egyptians performed a process to ensure preservation of the human body. A small hook was pushed up the nostrils to pull out the clusters of brain. Another small incision was made across the abdomen where the liver, intestines, heart, and other organs were extracted. These organs were placed inside canopic jars that rested beside the mummy. The next step was to dehydrate the body with a type of embalming salt called “natron.” Hundreds of pounds were poured over the body to extract the moisture from the skin. Finally, the body was wrapped in layers of linen and decorated with jewelry. This effective form of preservation is the basis for scientists to recreate the structural details and features of the early human.
I find this method to be a well-respected form of preservation. Many rulers of Egypt were carefully mummified. It was considered to be a long sleep until the time to live again resurfaced. The Egyptian people possessed a vibe that respected its leaders. Humans performed the mummification process with great care. That type of activity seems unlikely now. Individuality seems to be more important in today’s society rather than a specific leader. However, I think this type of mummification serves as a great canvas for today’s scientists to build on.
Today’s scientists are breaking new ground in terms of facial reconstruction. Measurements are taken of soft tissues that reside on the face. This is done in order to determine the thickness of these tissues. A replicated cast of the human skull is made containing small sticks supported inside wooden pegs, which are shortened to accommodate the tissues thickness on the coterminous areas of the skull. After determining the thickness of the skin tissue, the next step is to create clay models of muscle-like skin strips. Other features such as the eyes, nose, and lips are created based on the underlying structure of these skin strips. Although this process is not positively accurate, it provides scientists with evidence of what the face looked like during its living days.
The method of facial reconstruction explained in the paragraph above illustrates a process without the use of computer technology. I think scientists reached a point where it was necessary for a technological movement to carry them to the next level of study. However, I am impressed with the basic tools and skills used to recreate the features of the face. I feel that these skills are the platform of human brilliance waiting to support many new levels of technological advancement. Although I feel there was a successful reconstruction in the example above, I think the process was time consuming and less accurate then later methods used with computers.
Methods have progressed with the development of technological advancements. In 1997, an Italian research team worked some of the preserved remains at Florence’s Archaeological Museum in Italy. Their studies included the use of sophisticated computer technology to develop skull and facial reconstruction. A computer scanning technique known as the computed tomography enabled the team to X-ray the skull and view it in separate sections. This system allows scientists to gather information on the structural composition of the mummy. Based on these structural characteristics, a three dimensional model of the face can be constructed with the use of custom computer software programs. X-rays can show various fractures and injuries that the mummy may have acquired before death. This can help scientists determine the cause of death. The most commonly found fracture in the skull is the passage the embalmers used to extract the brain. Scientists can attain this information without disrupting or unraveling the mummy.
I think computers act as a medium of channeling a scientist’s idea. It’s similar to adding another brain that comprehends data at a higher level. The growing possibilities of computer technology seem endless in aiding scientific research. This idea scares me as much as it fascinates me. A scientist’s ability increases as the technology increases. There has to be a point where things get uncontrollable. Computers help scientists see things that the naked eye cannot see. It may lead them to discover new things based on the available technology. These could be things that nature never intended us to see. I think the computer could be a man-made weapon against nature. Yes, scientists are now capable of finding out different things because of technology, but will nature strike back and decide that we’ve seen enough? I just hope I’m not around if it happens.
New technologies are producing new results, and these results are being shared among scientists all around the world. The University of Manchester in England is in the process of establishing the world’s first international mummy tissue bank. This institute will carry small samples of tissue, which are available for all types of research. Researching various types of disease can benefit from tissue samples. Parasitic infection is a large contributor to early human disease. Research hasn’t produced any evidence of modern diseases such as cancer, syphilis, and tuberculosis. I found the current studies on schistosomiasis to be very interesting. A testing system called ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) will test the various skin samples for the schistosome antigen. This type of research has never been performed on any disease. These tissue samples will also be made available on the Internet. I think it’s a groundbreaking source for research. The study of these types of infections for over the past 5000 years will most definitely expand a scientist’s knowledge on the subject.
This further explains how the possibilities are endless as new technologies emerge. Scientists are limited to what they can project from their minds due to the provisions they are given. As technology grows, the mind’s creativeness will expand. New software programs can aid different studies. It’s all on the horizon–floating up in the sky, waiting to be grabbed. Going over this information and seeing the progress in the last few years is remarkable in itself. It makes me wonder about what methods will be practiced ten years or even one hundred years from now. There are new steps being taken to how scientists study mummies. Today’s practices range from the creation of new computer technology to a dull, plot-lacking, over-budgeted two-hour film staring Brandon Fraiser. Wasting my money on that film made me realize how technology can work against you as well–had to add that little comment. Regardless, methodologies are reaching greater heights as we enter the new millennium. Information is up for grabs and with a wider audience for study. For example, a scientist in a billion-dollar mansion somewhere in England and a cashier from a run down grocery store will have the same access to the latest groundbreaking information via the Internet. That blows my mind.



Bibliography


Works Cited
Archaeological Institute of America: On-Line News. Inka Child Sacrifice. Anonymous author. Dec, 1996.
http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/inka.html
Clickable Mummy. The Clickable Mummy. Anonymous author. 1999.
http://www.users.mwfree.net/~jarjar/clikmumm.htm
Discovery Channel On-Line. Face To Face with Mummies. Rosella Lorenzi. 1999.
http://www.discovery.com/indep/newsfeatures/mummyfaces/mummyfaces.html
Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Egyptian Mummies. Anonymous Author. 1991.
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmnh/mummies.htm
Manchester Museum, The. Mummy Tissue Bank. David Rosalie. 1999.
http://www.museum.man.ac.uk/new/mummy.html
Mumifyddog Aol Home Page. Corkankhamun Explains Mummification. Anonymous author. 1999.
http://members.aol.com/mumifyddog/whatis.html
National Geographic On-Line. How To Make A Mummy. Anonymous author. 1999.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/media/tv/mummy/


Word Count: 1971