Written in Bones: How Human Remains Unlock the Secrets of the Dead by Paul Bahn (as editor and author) is a collection of 36 detailed case studies involving the study of human remains, some skeletal, some mummified. Bahn is an archaeologist and prolific writer (Amazon alone lists 45 books that he's published) who knows how to make his subject come alive. He has selected some lesser known examples as well as some more popular cases. Almost all get a detailed up-to-date treatment usually by an expert on the case itself.

Those of interest to Mummy Tombs visitors include the following chapters:

• the Pompeii ash mummies (Italy). This is one of the few books to include a report about these mummies. 

• the Iceman (Italy). This seven-page report contains the most up-to-date information of any book about the Iceman currently published in English and includes information about his wounds, including the embedded arrowhead.

• Windeby Girl (Germany). Little is known about Windeby Girl, so this report includes as much information about other bog bodies as it does about her in this excellent brief summary.

• the Marquise of Dai (China). It is hard to find information about this mummy, and this five-page report goes a long way in making up for the dearth of information about her. Excellent photos accompany the article.

• the Fenghuangshan Tomb mummy (China). A description of the rarely reported tomb and mummy of Sui Xiaoyuan, discovered in the 1970s.

• Tashtyk mummies (Siberia). A rare mummy from southern Siberia, these date from the first through the sixth centuries AD. This is a fascinating seven-page account and includes photos of the mummies, their masks, and other related objects.

• Inca sacrificial mummies of Llullaillaco (South America). An excellent account of the expedition that uncovered these remarkable mummies and accompanying artifacts; well-documented with photos of "the best preserved of the frozen mummies that have been found in the Andes).

• the Chinchorro mummies (Chile). Eight rarely-published photos and five pages of information make this a good overall account of the oldest mummies found to date. 

The book also presents three chapters about Egyptian mummies. Although informative, these are the least interesting chapters (and most predictable) in the book. They include a chapter on King Tut (which takes the most familiar route of all: it discusses who might have killed King Tut based on an analysis of his mummy), the mummy in Tomb KV55 (now reduced to bones, this may be Smenkhkare, the brother of King Tut--or not), and the Royal Mummies (a rehash of the discovery of the cache of New Kingdom mummies in 1871). 

The remainder of the book deals with skeletal discoveries and their meanings. Each case study gives information about the discovery, a description of the remains, and the meaning behind them. Except for the poor work on Egypt, you can't go wrong with this book, which will take you to places you haven't been and get you thinking about people you may never have heard of before. This book is guaranteed to start readers on a hunt for further research material, as well. 250 color photographs, 192 pages. Highly recommended!