Scientists hope to solve mystery of Italy's child mummies

Published:Dec 7, 202311:00
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Scientists hope to solve mystery of Italy's child mummies

(CNN) — A workforce of scientists is attempting to discover out why dozens of kids have been mummified and buried in catacombs at a convent on the Italian island of Sicily.The first complete examine of the child mummies will likely be led by Kirsty Squires, affiliate professor of bioarchaeology at Staffordshire University within the UK, and fieldwork is due to start subsequent week.At the Capuchin Catacombs, a macabre vacationer attraction in Palermo, northern Sicily, the researchers will analyze the stays of 41 kids buried in a chosen room for youngsters -- though there are a complete of 163 kids buried within the catacombs. "We want to try and understand the lives of these individuals, their health, development, and so on," Squires advised CNN Thursday. "And from that, we also want to compare the biological data with the more cultural side of things."Squires added that the mummies have been totally clothed, with some positioned in cradles and chairs whereas others have been stood upright with sticks used to maintain them in place -- and the researchers will study the importance of why these artifacts have been used.
The fully-clothed remains of a child at the Capuchin Catacombs pictured in January 2011.
The fully-clothed stays of a child on the Capuchin Catacombs pictured in January 2011.Tony Gentile/Reuters
Little is thought about these kids, who have been buried from 1787-1880 and are half of the biggest assortment of mummified stays in Europe, comprising no less than 1,284 our bodies. "We know that they would have come from middle class families -- the mummification rite was reserved for wealthier individuals like nobility, the middle class and the clergy," Squires mentioned. "So we know that they weren't the poorest members of society, but that's all we know, really." Squires added: "Why weren't they just buried like other individuals?"The workforce is utilizing X-ray imaging as a result of it's a non-invasive technique that does not throw up the identical moral issues as invasive investigations on human stays, in accordance to a Staffordshire University press launch."We are using a portable X-ray machine to take radiographs so that we can estimate the age of individuals based on their dental eruption and development, and fusion of the bones," Squires mentioned, including that she can be searching for indicators of illness.The researchers will use the radiographs -- 574 in complete, or 14 per mummy -- to fill in a organic profile of the kids and work out whether or not mummification was solely carried out on these of a sure age or intercourse."They will also be utilised to detect the presence of developmental defects, stress indicators and pathological lesions, which aims to gain an insight into the health and lifestyle of children in life," in accordance to the challenge web site.According to Squires, mummification was practiced within the catacombs from round 1599 to the early twentieth century, seen by the center class as a "way of keeping their social persona alive after death," with households visiting their buried kinfolk' our bodies.Squires and her co-investigator Dario Piombino-Mascali of Vilnius University, in Lithuania, will likely be accompanied by two radiographers and an artist within the catacombs and can spend per week taking a look at demise data. It will likely be months earlier than findings are printed, she mentioned.



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