Two unusual Associated Artifacts in the Internal Context
The first unusual case is that of Andy the Blockhead, a sideshow mummy who is displayed at Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. We conducted a paleoimaging study on Andy prior to his debut Carnival Mummies 2003 . The initial AP and lateral skull radiographs showed that there appeared to be a common nail in the nasal passage of the mummy Figure 7.30 . A popular sideshow act was having an individual place objects deep into the nasopharynx giving the appearance that the...
References 1
An Unwanted Mummy. 2001. The Mummy Road Show. New York Engel Brothers Media. Aufderheide, A. C. 2003a. The Scientiac Study of Mummies. 515. Cambridge, U.K. Cambridge University Press. Aufderheide, A. C. 2003b. The Scientiac Study of Mummies. 16. Cambridge, U.K. Cambridge University Press. Beckett, R., J. Posh, C. Czaplinski, G. Conlogue, L. Quarino, J. Kishbaugh, and A. Bonner. 2008. Moving Toward Field Application of Percutaneous Needle Biopsy in Mummified Remains Using a Non-Gravity Dependent...
MDCT in Paleoimaging
Although the newest equipment can produce remarkable images on living patients, it is not necessarily well suited for the examination of mummified or skeletal remains. The first obstacle would be access to the equipment. Few imaging facilities can provide repeated access to the extremely expensive equipment. Therefore, specific imaging questions must be defined before an examination is undertaken. If the entire length of a 60 in. 152 cm mummy was going to be scanned at 0.5-mm-thick slices, that...
Cultural Practices
Ancient Medical Practices Ancient cultures appear to be fairly sophisticated in their medical practices. In the case of the Inca and other populations as well, trephinations were performed with great skill and with a remarkable success rate. It has been determined that among the Inca, based on new bone growth at the procedure site, trephination survival approached an 80 success rate Verano 2003 . Conventional radiography can be used to demonstrate not only the frequency of the medical practice...
Paleoimaging Interpreters
Initially, it would seem that since much of the data collected is radiographic, a radiologist would be the logical individual to make the interpretations. While this may be true, there are very few true paleoradiologists available. In fact, there are no specialized training programs in this area of expertise. Too often a radiologist becomes a paleoradiologist as soon as she he interprets her his first mummy x-ray. Sadly, this oversimplifies the challenges faced in the interpretation of images...
Devices to Maintain the Position of the Remains
As previously stated, proper positioning is required to obtain the most information from a radiographic image. However, to acquire that image, both the remains and the image receptor must maintain the precise position during the duration of the x-ray exposure. Cardboard and other solid materials are radiopaque, impeding the passage of x-rays and causing the material to be visible on the processed radiograph. The positioning aid must be radiolucent, or nearly invisible, to x-rays. There are...
Technical Advantages and Disadvantages of Conventional Radiography Technical
The advantages of conventional radiography for field applications are numerous. Conventional radiography provides the ability to see within objects such as mummy bundles, coffins, and wrapped artifacts. In addition, radiographs allow for the assessment of structures within structures. For example, not only can the radiograph provide an image of skeletal structures within a wrapped bundle, but it may also reveal a tumor within the bones. Radiography can be portable, making it possible to image...
Frauds Fakes and surprises
Throughout history, clever artists have attempted to pass off or sell an object that was not authentic, a fake artifact. In some cases, these objects were sold to private collectors, but museums too have been duped. In ancient Egypt, there were superb copy makers of Egyptian artifacts. Even the reputable sellers of animal mummies in ancient Egypt would, at times, dupe the buyer. Early in the 20th century, seemingly authentic artifacts were sold for a grand price to museums across the world....