Mummies of the Arctic regions
Mummified bodies occasionally found in the frigid regions of the world include animals, such as mammoths in Alaska and seals in Antarctica, and Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The animal and Eskimo mummies are naturally frozen, while t
- PDF / 4,978,771 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 595.276 x 793.701 pts Page_size
- 64 Downloads / 214 Views
Mummified bodies occasionally found in the frigid regions of the world include animals, such as mammoths in Alaska and seals in Antarctica, and Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The animal and Eskimo mummies are naturally frozen, while the Aleuts practiced artificial mummification. Tissue from such remains can be examined by dissection and rehydration in Ruffer's solution (water, alcohol and sodium carbonate) for microscopic study, providing information on the evolution and prevalence of disease in these remote areas. The oldest preserved bodies from Alaska are mammals of the late Pleistocene (15,000-25,000 years B.P'). Specimens examined from the collection of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City were collected from the area of modern Fairbanks during gold mining operations (Zimmerman and Tedford, 1976). The remains included the face and right forefoot of an immature woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), the nearly complete body of a rabbit (Lepus sp.), a lynx (Lynx sp.), a lemming or vole and marrow from a horse cannon bone (Equus sp.). The mammoth was radiocarbon dated at 21,300± 1,300 years and the other animals probably fall within the range of 15,000 to 25,000 years based on stratigraphic evidence. The animals were dry and leather like, with skin and hair well preserved. Dissection of the mammoth head revealed preservation of the eyes as globoid structures filled with soft white cheesy material. The viscera of the rabbit were easily identifiable and appeared to be well preserved. The viscera of the lynx were totally autolyzed and the marrow of the horse bone was reduced to a small amount of greasy yellow material. Representative specimens of the various structures were selected for rehydration, overnight immersion being sufficient. Of interest was the failure of the solution to turn dark brown, a change usually seen in the rehydration of human tissues. The lemming or vole was rehydrated in toto for a week, in an effort to facilitate identification. After rehydration, the specimens were fixed in absolute alcohol and processed as would be fresh tissue. The
K. Spindler et al. (eds.), Human Mummies © Springer-Verlag/Wien 1996
sections were stained with hematoxylin & eosin, trichrome, PTAH and the Fontana stain for melanin. Histologic structure was found to be preserved in several of the specimens. The mammoth eye showed preservation of the extra-ocular skeletal muscles, which retained their affinity for the Masson trichrome. The PTAH stain revealed preservation of the cross striations characteristic of skeletal muscle (Fig. 1). Other structures and the melanin of the retina were not identified. The general architecture of the rabbit liver was preserved, the fibrous tissue of the portal areas being clearly visible. The hepatocytes had completely disintegrated, being replaced by masses of bacteria. The wall of the bowel remained as strands of tissue containing well preserved vegetable contents. No ova or parasites were seen. No trace of histologic structure was seen in the o
Data Loading...
