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The researchers used a new combination of CT (computed tomography) technology and X-ray diffraction to reveal clues to an Egyptian mummy from Roman times, discovered in Hawara, Egypt.
For nearly a century, Egyptian mummies have been imaged non-invasively with X-rays. In findings reported in the Journal of the Royal Society on Tuesday, the team of researchers described the use of a combination of CT scan and X-ray diffraction for the first time, revealing clues to the ancient corpse lying inside.
Using a scanner to create a “three-dimensional road map” of the mummy’s contents, the experts projected beams of x-rays smaller than the diameter of a human hair on the mummy to identify objects within. inside the item’s packaging, senior author Stuart Stock told CNN.
“The X-rays give off what is essentially a characteristic fingerprint of the material,” said Stock, a researcher at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
What experts at Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory and Metropolitan State University of Denver found on the body – believed to belong to a 5-year-old child – surprised them.
The researchers found a small piece of very pure calcium carbonate in the mummy, which they believe is the correct shape to be a beetle, which was traditionally placed in an incision in the abdomen during mummification.
“This opaque object has about the right shape for a beetle,” Stock explained. “The scarab is the symbol of rebirth,” he added.
The article gives further clues to the mummy’s social status – but not royalty, “that person was in the upper echelons of society” if such a pure material was used in their burial, Stock said.
“They could afford to have a scarab and a mummification, which required enormous resources,” he said.
A study of the body also showed that the child, believed to be a girl, did not experience a violent end.
“Looks like there was no skeletal trauma,” Stock said. “We don’t know why this young child died.”
A portrait attached to the mummy also reveals other clues about its occupant, with the hairstyle depicted dating to the mummy between AD 150-200. Portrait mummies have a realistic painting of the deceased incorporated into the mummy wrappers and placed on the person’s face.
Experts believe that this technique could be used for further studies on mummies, giving further clues to the object buried next to ancient corpses, without the need to disturb and manipulate the bodies.
“Back then (the Victorian era) they were taking them apart,” Stock told CNN. “We don’t like to do this anymore.”
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