10 Ways to Make a Mummy
- By Susan K. Lewis
- Posted 02.07.06
- NOVA
For many people the word "mummy" conjures up images of
linen-wrapped royalty from ancient Egypt. But for scientists it
describes any body that retains soft tissue—most often
skin, but sometimes even eyes and internal organs—long
after death. Peat bogs in Europe made mummies, and so did a cave
in Greenland and a mountaintop in the Alps. In this slide show,
examine both natural forces and artificial techniques that have
created mummies around the world.
This feature originally appeared on the site for the NOVA
program
The Perfect Corpse.
Credits
Special Thanks
- Vincent van Vilsteren, Drents Museum
Photos
- (Oldcroghan Man)
- © BBC 2005
- (Egyptian natural mummy)
- © British Museum/HIP/Art Resource, NY
- ("Lady Rai")
- Courtesy University of Chicago Library
- ("Ice Maiden" detail)
- © NOVA/WGBH Educational Foundation
- (Lady Dai)
- newsphoto/China Daily
- ("ítzi the Iceman")
- Courtesy South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
- (Cherchan Man)
- © Jeffery Newbury/CORBIS SYGMA
- (Guanche mummy)
- © Jack Fields/CORBIS
- (Inuit mummy)
- © Werner Forman/CORBIS
- (Johan Reinhard and Incan mummies)
- Courtesy Johan Reinhard
Related Links
-
See a collection of some of ancient Egypt's most remarkably
preserved mummies.
-
This 2,400-year-old corpse is the world's most famous bog
body. Learn how scientists reconstructed his final hours.
-
High-altitude archeologists have discovered children
sacrificed to the Inca's mountain gods.
-
How did ancient Egyptians prepare a body for burial? Witness
the elaborate process of mummification in this slide show.
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