Natural and artificial 13th–19th century mummies in Italy

Abstract

Contrary to current opinion, the series of mummies in Italy, and of single mummies in particular, is relatively numerous (Di Colo 1910; Terribile and Corrain 1986; Fulcheri 1991). These mummies are distributed over the entire Italian territory, from Friuli, in northern Italy (Aufderheide and Aufderheide 1991), to Sicily (Fornaciari and Gamba 1993), and generally prevail in southern Italy, where the most remarkable collections are found (Fig. 1). Burials date from the medieval period, through the Renaissance, and up to modern times, with a higher incidence between the 17th and the 19th centuries (Table 1), all representing precious paleopathological material.