Bioarchaeology of Mummies

Catalog description

Mummified human remains open a fragile window into the past. They provide unique information about the physical characteristics, health and diet of ancient peoples, as well as information on cultural modification of the body (head shaping, piercing, tattooing, hair styles), funerary practices, and cultural concepts of death and the afterlife. Mummies can be investigated from various perspectives (textual, iconographic, biomedical, ethnographical, archaeological), but are studied most effectively using a multidisciplinary approach involving archaeologists, biological anthropologists, conservators, and specialists in medical imaging, paleogenetics and geochemistry. Bioarchaeology, the application of biological anthropology to archaeological research questions, is a term commonly used today to describe this multidisciplinary approach to studying the dead. This course will examine preserved human bodies from around the world, with an emphasis on scientific studies that seek to reconstruct their life histories and postmortem treatment.