Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Cultures (review)

Abstract

This sober collection of essays on mummies by thirty-nine contributors from a variety of disciplines and countries deals not only with ancient Egypt, but with the Americas, the Orient, the Mediterranean littoral, Melanesia, and the Arctic [End Page 302] regions. The general focus is on objective evidence of demographics, culture, diet, and disease patterns. The only weak chapter discusses bog bodies from northwestern Europe and Denmark, a subject about which some of us would like to know more. Only one illustrated bone lesion struck me as questionable: figures 10.10-11 may indeed be from South Americans with calvarial meningiomas, but fibrous dysplasia or unilateral cranial hyperostosis seem more likely. The authors wisely stress the difficulty of accurate diagnoses on paleopathologic material, and honestly face the adverse impact of "repatriation" on physical anthropology in the United States, Israel, and Australia--Native Americans have in fact closed the door on mummy studies in the United States.