From Frightening to Facts: Mummies
Mummies have been starring in horror movies as early as the 1930s.
While they have certainly lost their scare factor in the more modern era,
action films like The Mummy have kept them in popular culture. Mummies are
commonly associated with archaeology. Egyptology is often seen as one with
archaeology and I am often asked if I have ever wanted to work in Egypt.
However popular, mummies are not only found in Egypt. Mummification has been
used in cultures around the world for centuries. Examples of mummies can be
found on every continent of the world, whether human or animal. The process of
mummification can either be intentional, in a process conducted by humans, or
naturally through environmental factors. While popular culture has portrayed
mummies as bandage wearing ancient kings, not every mummification technique
involves wrapping up a body and mummification wasn’t always used on kings.
Humans have been mummifying remains for thousands of years.
While Egypt is thought of as the birthplace of mummies, there are actually
older mummies in North America. The Chinchorro mummies, found in southern Chile
and northern Peru, date as early as 5050 BC. To compare, the oldest Egyptian
mummy dates to around 3000 BC. Chinchorro mummies weren’t just leaders or
kings, they mummified anyone from all social classes of their society. There
are however no clear answers as to why the Chinchorro people chose to mummify
their dead. The Chinchorro preparation of their dead varied and became more
complex over time. Preparation mostly involved disassembling and reassembling
the body after treating it with heat. The bodies were also covered in clay and
given clay masks.
 |
| A clay mask covers this Chinchorro mummy |
Though mummies are often associated with antiquity,
mummification can be found in the 1900s. In 1920 one year old Rosalia Lombardo
passed away in Italy, her father distraught over her death, employed an
embalmer, Alfredo Salafia to preserve her body. The preservation technique
worked so well, that she looked to be alive. She became known as the Sleeping
Beauty of the Capuchin Catacombs, and is arguably one of the best preserved
bodies of mummification. The techniques were more modern using chemicals like
glycerin, formalin, and salicylic acid.
 |
| Rosalia Lombardo |
Natural mummification is the process by which a body is
mummified by their surrounding environment. This normally happens in extreme
cold, low humidity, and environments that lack air. The Windover bog people are
examples of natural mummification that can be found in Florida. The Windover
people existed approximately 7,000 to 8,000 years ago in the area around
Titusville. The Windover people buried their dead in a pond, why this site was
chosen is still unknown. A possible theory was that without shovels, grave
digging would be much easier in swampy mud than hard dry soil. The pond was
rich in peat, which covered the bodies creating an anaerobic atmosphere, which
helped prevent the bodies from decomposing. While the human remains found on
the site aren’t the typical mummies, they are skeletal remains not bandaged
remains with remnants of skin tissues, the peat preservation had some
advantages. Preserved human brain tissue was able to be recovered from several
skulls as well as the last meal of a female skeleton that was still in her
stomach. Natural mummification still occurs today, albeit not intentional.
Mount Everest contains the mummified remains of climbers who were not able to
return from their climb. As of 2011 there are over 200 known climbers who have
passed away ascending the mountain. Their remains are left in their place of
death and have mummified over time from the extreme cold.
 |
| Skeletal Remains from the Windover Site |
 |
| A climber from Mount Everest |
While mummies are viewed as an object of horror movies, real
life mummies have interesting stories to tell. Archaeologists study mummies from
around the world to learn about their lives and the stories they can tell us
about their culture. Mummies have not always been as protected and valued as
they are today, they used to be burned for fuel and used as color pigments, but
we continue to learn from what they leave behind.
Written by: Megan Liebold, FPAN Staff