Keywords:
Computer applications, CT, Image manipulation / Reconstruction, Computer Applications-3D, Tissue characterisation, Forensics
Authors:
M. Disaró1, P. Sartori2; 1Legnaro/IT, 2Rovigo/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-0398
Results
The human mummy skeleton is severely damaged.
The right humerus is missing; the left one,
the scapular and the costal present multiple fractures.
The left femur shows a broad spiroide fracture.
No reparative signs can be detected in all the fractured bones,
indicating that they occurred post mortem,
most probably during the transportation from the discovery place to their final collocation.
The pelvis presents a round-oval shape and a typical pubic angle, elements that confirm the belonging to the feminine genre.
Important degenerative osteoarthritis alterations in the hips are recognizable also in other areas (fig.1),
suggesting that the death occurred around at 55-60 years of age,
middle-advanced age considering the life expectancy of that period.
The skull appears detached from the body and it is secured to it by a long and thin wooden awl inserted in the spinal canal.
Material with density of the soft tissues,
for a total volume of 70 cc,
can be recognized inside the cranial cavity,
placed by decubitus in the occipital seat (fig.2).
The presence of material seemingly cerebral in the skull suggests for a partial evisceration of the brain.
Slightly hypodense material can be noticed in the abdominal cavity; due to the very low density registered,
it could be compatible with linen bandages mixed with resins,
process actually used during the estimated period.
The CT radiographic analyses of the animal mummy (crocodile) document a report in better preservation conditions.
The vertebral rachis shows a scoliosis bending in the dorsal tract; however the vertebras present morphology and height mostly well preserved,
especially at the tail level.
Few articular dislocations can be recognized at the extremities level.
Any fracture sign can be detected (fig.3).
The optimum conservation status of the crocodile mummy’s vertebras permits to deduce the youth of the animal.
Moreover the dislocations documented at the limbs level,
without any sign of concomitant fractures,
lead to hypothesize that the same dislocations are due to the natural disappearance of the ligamentous structures and not to traumatic events.
No jewels were found in the studied rests.
The spectroscopic microanalyses done with a scanning microscope in the laboratory of the Science and Technology of the Materials of the Cà Foscari University in Venice confirmed that the materials found in the face and in the whole body are respectively ascribable to gold traces and bitumen.