The Virtual Mummy by Sarah Underhill Wisseman is a brief and accessible introduction to the latest nondestructive techniques used in mummy studies. Wisseman tells the story of "Lazarus," the only human mummy held by the Spurlock Museum  (at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). 

Acquired in 1989 from a private collection, the mummy was something of a mystery. Clearly the mummy originated in Fayum (though without any provenance giving the details of its discovery or recovery) and had been made during the Roman Era of Egyptian history. However, no one was certain whether the somewhat faded cartonnage contained a male or female mummy.

The various studies and tests conducted on the mummy were:

• an examination of the wrappings, including the face portrait (a badly faded painting of a child with curly hair, best visible under ultraviolet light). One conclusion: the Spurlock mummy came from a wealthy family "that could afford one of the better mummification treatments for the period."

• x-rays which revealed a possible bone fractures (jaw and ribs) and the age of the mummy. One conclusion: the mummy was a child (baby teeth and unfused growth plates helped determine this). The child was between the ages of 7 and 9 at death and had grown to about 4 feet in height. Because the child was so young, however, gender (usually assessed by the shape of pelvic bones) could not be determined.

• CT-scans which clarified that the child's jaw was not fractured (but did reveal a fracture at the base of the skull and that the ribs had been broken (though possibly after death). The CT-scan also provided a surprise: a board, placed under the full length of the body. had been wrapped up with the mummy as well.

• facial reconstruction using CT-scan data. This computer-generated reconstruction gave a lifelike recreation of the child's face at the time of death; researchers also aged the child in a second reconstruction to the age of 18. (Note: the reconstruction is part of the museum display now.) One conclusion: the data indicated a mixed race child.

An examination of physical remains, however, provided a wealth of information. At the foot end of the mummy, the wrappings were loose; investigators were able to take microscopic pieces of cloth, wood, bone, resin and insects for examination. They found the following:

• the wooden board was made from a cedar tree, commonly found in North Africa. They discovered that the board may have been recycled, since the radiocarbon date of the wood tested 300 years earlier than the date of the mummy.

• resin used in the mummification process was pine pitch (though they could not identify the specific type of pine tree).

• insects found where flesh-eating beetles. Wisseman notes that "the body was not in pristine condition when the embalming procedures were initiated."

• three types of textiles were found. The outermost cloth was heavy and coarsely woven; the innermost was the lightest and most tightly woven. The outer cloth appeared to be ramie (which Wiseman notes "contains non-fibrous material that is toxic to bacteria and fungi"-- in other words, an ideal textile for mummymaking). The inner two cloth types were linen (made from flax).

• the child's bones revealed that two staples of her or his diet were bread and onions.

• DNA tests were inconclusive.

The book ends with a brief look at the future of mummy studies. 

Overall, Wisseman does an excellent job of summarizing the study of the Spurlock mummy. A bibliography points out further articles that provide more depth and detail. As such, this book is ideal for the reader who wants a guide to the main findings, and upper elementary and middle school researchers might find its readable scientific discussions helpful in completing a mummy report or project as well. Finally, it would be a particularly invaluable resource for any educational groups visiting the museum. 

I have only two minor quibbles with the book: First, the book begins and ends with a reference to the "Austrian Iceman." Since Ötzi was found (and now also resides) in Italy, it is something of an oversight  to refer to him this way; it might have been more appropriate to use the term "Tyrolean Iceman" or simply "Iceman" and ignore the geography and politics. Second, the annotated bibliography is not well-annotated. In fact, only 17 of the 59 entries include any additional information. As such, it feels neglected, almost an afterthought. 

These two minor glitches, though, don't detract from an otherwise excellent addition to the subject of mummy studies. 66 pages, 9 color plates, 33 black and white illustrations. Highly recommended.