Beschreibung

Natural mummies found in cold and dry environments, such as glaciers, high mountains, or permafrost, require special attention for their storage and preservation. As a consequence of global warming the melting of glaciers and permafrost has enhanced the discovery of valuable mummified human and animal remains from past eras. The need to find an innovative and appropriate solution for the preservation of these mummies must therefore be given high priority. Currently, these remains are stored in more or less complex and expensive refrigerated chambers after their recovery. These systems often offer disadvantages, especially in terms of stability of the preservation parameters and due to limitations in accessibility and visibility of the mummies. The aim of the present study is to develop and validate a new standard of preservation while respecting the integrity of the find by using a highly interdisciplinary scientific approach. The validation of the proposed reconditioning process is performed by a comparative study of several sets of samples of a natural mummy taken at different stages. 

The study is divided in several phases: 

The reconditioning process, which will use as a model the mummy of a chamois found in 2019 in the Italian Alps and dated to the 17th century AD (WP1), a macroscopic and archaeozoological study, which includes the analysis of CT scans of the mummy (WP 2), the water content analysis of the mummified tissues (WP 3), a microscopic and histological analysis of the collagen structure (WP 4), a biomolecular, protein and lipid analysis, as well as a microbiological analysis (WP 5). The validation of the reconditioning process will be carried out through the comparative study of all the results of the planned analyses (WP 6). The valorization and dissemination of the project results will be supported by the permanent exhibition of the MUSE in Trento, which will host a specially designed display case (WP 7), which will preserve the reconditioned chamois mummy as a proof of the validity of the new system (WP 8). 

We expect numerous benefits from a successful implementation of the study:

• i) substantial energy and economic saving,
• ii) considerable reduction of CO2 emission and thus a reduced environmental impact, 
• iii), an improvement of the accessibility to the finds for the researcher, 
• iv) a better valorization of cultural heritage through an improved museum exhibition. The main research institutes involved are the Institute for Mummy Studies (Eurac Research), the National Institute for Metrological Research of Turin (INRiM), the Conservation and Restoration Centre of Venaria Reale (CCR), the Physics Department of the University of Turin (UNITO), the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle Washington, USA (ISB) and the Science Museum of Trento (MUSE).

Partner

Lead Partner Eurac Research