Detecting Greek mummies in coffins with lead

The mummy of a middle-aged woman dating from ancient Greece was discovered in a coffin by lead in another stone casket. The first clear information is the Greek mummy from the time of Roman rule.

A team led by Frank Rühli of the University of Zurich could prove that many different resins, oils and spices were used to embalm the body from 300 AD . Along with the skeleton, methods to preserve some soft tissue on the body. Most of these tissues until now are fragile, thin and dry, including eyelashes, hand muscles, hair and blood cells.

Brown eyelashes and other soft tissue traces on a mummy's skull were discovered in northern Greece dating back to 300 AD.(Photo: C. Papageorgopoulou)

Answering LiveScience Rühli said that this was 'a unique discovery with this space and time condition'.

The body is covered with a gold-embroidered purple silk cloth , which indicates that the woman is probably a noble society. The bones of women show that she is in her 50s to 60s. The findings will be detailed in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The mummy is now stored at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Aromatic resin, fat and rosin

The coffin was opened for the first time in 1962 during the excavation in Northern Greece on the eastern edge of the cemetery of Thessaloniki previously used as a burial place and performed ritual activities from the Hellenistic period to Byzantine.

In addition to microscopic and anthropological analysis, electron microscopy examination and mass spectrometry were also carried out, gas chromatography for the remaining parts. The above measures show the presence of various substances used for embalming including aromatics, fats and resins. The lead coffin covering the mummy may also contribute to preservation, although researchers are still unsure whether the incident is intentional and effective.

The sarcophagus is specially made for the dead. The body with a body about 63 inches wide, 5 feet high, 3 inches thick lies on a wooden mattress inside the coffin and is wrapped with wool tape and cotton.

The article about the body

Articles by Homer, Herodotus and Pliny authors show that ancient Greece enveloped the dead with funerals including a ankle-length rope. The body is also washed with water and wine and treated with olive oil . But according to the researchers, direct evidence of embalming as well as fragrant blends in the oil is still unclear.

Black soft tissue residues on lumbar vertebrae of female mummies in northern Greece date from 300 AD.(Photo: C. Papageorgopoulou )

Colleagues Christina Papageorgopoulou in the group of Rühli of the University of Zurich said: "There has been no previous evidence that the above embalming substances appeared in Greece at that time ." She was the one who carried out most of the analysis work as well as initiated research on mummies after discovering the casket two years ago. 'Until now, only the new historical sources indicate that the Roman empire selected some people to embalm.'

For example, the embalming of Alexander the Great's body in beeswax, Papageorgopoulou and his colleagues wrote.

The study is part of the Swiss Mummy Project with the goal of collecting information about life and death, as well as the post-mortem form of transformation (such as the process of embalming) of calendar mummies. history by applying methods that do not destroy tissue. The Swiss mummy project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Research Foundation, the University of Zurich.