Abstract
European perspectives on the study of human remains, particularly mummified individuals with associated material culture, highlight the multidisciplinary research potential of these rare discoveries. The diverse evidence associated with mummified remains offers unique potential to consider how the deceased was experienced over time. Scientific analyses reveal the complex taphonomic processes leading to the selective survival of tissue and cultural items. Medical approaches to mummies have been long established, but historical examples can combine cultural and historical sources with the palaeopathological to develop more nuanced understandings of disease and lifestyle, identifying both individual biographies and wider cultural trends in mortuary practice. Study of mummies raises ethical considerations similar to those for skeletonized remains, but given the greater recognition of their humanity, further social and religious considerations are relevant. Investigation needs to be set against the local legislation and the feelings of the mummies’ gatekeepers and, in some cases, their descendant communities.
Highlights
Human remains present unique challenges for historical archaeologists, in both ethical and practical ways, because of the cultural expectations in society at large and of the gatekeepers of many of the places where such remains may be found
Mummy exhibitions have recently received considerable attention regarding the ethics of display, and visibility of historical mummies is discussed further below
The deceased was interred in the past either in an earth-cut grave or within a stone- or brick-built crypt or tomb (Litten 1985, 1999; Association of Diocesan and Cathedral Archaeologists 2010). Both forms could be outside or within a church building. Those environments that have remained permanently dry have a possibility of mummification, and these have been more commonly encountered beneath church buildings than in burial grounds, though examples from the latter are known
Summary
Human remains present unique challenges for historical archaeologists, in both ethical and practical ways, because of the cultural expectations in society at large and of the gatekeepers of many of the places where such remains may be found. This applies to all human remains, but some of the emotive and symbolic associations with mummified remains create even greater ambivalence. The articles here consider the human remains, but the associated finds that may be unusually well preserved These throw light on the mortuary process and, to varying degrees, wider past cultural practices and attitudes. Whilst there are distinctive traditions of research linked to ancient Egyptian or Andean mummies, for example, the references in this article only relate to the historical period
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