[Human remains in museums: research, preservation and communication. The experience of Turin University Museum of Anthropology and Etnography]. / I reperti umani antichi nei musei: ricerca, conservazione e comunicazione. Le esperienze del Museo di Antropologia ed Etnografia dell'Universita di Torino.

The creation of large scientific collections has been an important development for anthropological and paleopathological research. Indeed the biological collections are irreplaceable reference systems for the biological reconstruction of past population. They also assume the important role of anthropological archives and, in the global description of man, permit the integration of historical data with those from bio-anthropolgical research. Thinking about the role of mummies and bones as scientific resources, best practice of preservation of ancient specimens should be of high priority for institution and researchers. By way of example, the authors mention their experience regarding ancient human remains preserved in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography at the University of Turin.

Scenes from the past: multidetector CT study of gallbladder stones in a wrapped Egyptian mummy.

A whole-body examination was performed with multidetector computed tomography (CT) of a completely wrapped Egyptian mummy from the collection at the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy. The mummy dates from the Eighteenth Dynasty. Although embalmment of the deceased man should have included evisceration in accordance with his social rank, no canopic jars containing internal organs had been found at the discovery of his tomb, and at CT, all the organs were found to have desiccated inside the body. Numerous calcified stones that were incidentally identified in the gallbladder had attenuation characteristics indicative of a predominant bile pigment content. This case demonstrates the superior capabilities of multidetector CT for the noninvasive study of embalmed bodies. The intrinsic capacity of CT for depicting the density of materials allowed not only the identification of the gallbladder stones but also their characterization.

Neural tube defect in a 4000-year-old Egyptian infant mummy: a case of meningocele from the museum of anthropology and ethnography of Turin (Italy).

This paper reports a paleopathological study of a severe neural tube defect in an ancient mummy, more specifically, a meningocele in an Egyptian infant from the XI dynasty (2100-1955B.C.). This is one of the most ancient cases of meningocele in mummified human remains described in paleopathological literature. Prehistoric and early historic examples of severe congenital defects of the vertebral column and neural tube are rare, because of the precarious preservation conditions of ancient human remains. Further, since the majority are only the skeletal remains, paleopathological and paleoepidemiological analysis based on the observation of bones is even more difficult. Hence, it is not easy to investigate this disease in the past in all its complexities and true diffusion. The case presented here is peculiar, since it concerns a mummy with almost all soft tissues preserved, thus allowing us to describe the defect in an infant. Only targeted, minimally invasive examinations were performed. An anthropological investigation with helical CT scan and histological analysis was used to diagnose the defect and identify post-mortem transformation processes. The analyses confirmed the diagnosis of meningocele in an approximately six-month-old infant.

Facial reconstruction of a wrapped Egyptian mummy using MDCT.

OBJECTIVE: Facial reconstruction of mummies and corpses in general is important in anthropological, medical, and forensic studies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the role of MDCT examination for 3D facial reconstruction and report the results of multidisciplinary work performed by radiologists, anthropologists, and forensic police in reconstructing the possible physiognomy of an ancient Egyptian mummy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three-dimensional MDCT data were obtained from a well-preserved, completely wrapped Egyptian mummy from the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Torino, Italy, which dated from the XXII or XXIII dynasty (945-715 BC). Data were used as a model for the rapid prototyping stereolithographic technique, a method that allows the creation of a 3D model with digital data using synthetic materials such as a resin or nylon. RESULTS: The physical creation of the face was accomplished with boosting techniques performed by the progressive layering of plasticine on the nylon model according to the anthropometric data, the conditions of the soft residual dehydrated tissues, and the most accepted scientific and anthropological criteria. CT is the only noninvasive method for obtaining fundamental data for 3D reconstructions of the skull and the body, especially with wrapped mummies. CONCLUSION: Our multidisciplinary cooperative study produced a model of the face of an individual who lived nearly 3,000 years ago, which would not previously have been possible unless we unwrapped, destroyed, and altered the conservation of the bandages and the mummy.

Whole-body three-dimensional multidetector CT of 13 Egyptian human mummies.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to assess the role of multidetector CT and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions in noninvasive studies of Egyptian mummies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 13 mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Torino, Italy, dating from Dynasty III to Dynasty IV (2650-2450 B.C.) and from the Ptolemaic period (332-30 B.C.) to the Roman period (30 B.C.-A.D. 395), using a multidetector CT unit with a single volumetric acquisition of the whole body, including lower extremities, followed by 3D reconstruction. All mummies were completely wrapped; preservation conditions of external wrappings were good in all. RESULTS: The general setting, embalming techniques, sex and age assessment (from body and skeletal features), anthropometric measurements (cranial measurements and evaluation of stature), conditions of the skeleton and soft tissue, any abnormalities, and the presence of foreign objects were evaluated in each mummy, and a detailed report was drawn up. Virtual unwrapping permitted the identification of physiognomy of the whole dehydrated body placed beneath the wrappings; 3D reconstruction and virtual fly-through navigation allowed further evaluations of the internal parts of the body. CONCLUSION: The results obtained with this protocol provided important anthropologic and paleopathologic information that would have been impossible to obtain by other noninvasive techniques. Moreover, this method has great potential for studies of conservation, anthropology, and paleopathology of other Egyptian and ancient human remains. Multidisciplinary cooperation among anthropologists, paleopathologists, Egyptologists, and radiologists is essential.