"A 90-year-old Butler County woman found crammed in a freezer this month died of natural causes, authorities have ruled. Toxicology results released Tuesday did not reveal any controlled substances. An autopsy performed Aug. 12 did not find evidence of foul play. 'Her death has been ruled natural,' District Attorney Randa Clark said yesterday. Where the elderly woman was found, however, can be ruled anything but, she said. Cranberry police went by the township home Royer shared with her son on Aug. 9 after a social services agency requested she be checked on. When they arrived, Philip Royer, 56, told police he had placed his mother's body in a chest freezer after she died Aug. 6.... Philip Royer could be charged with abusing a corpse, a misdemeanor, by the end of the week, Clark said.... "

More on the frozen woman found in Butler County freezer

Butler County DA wants to know: Did son freeze mother after death to maintain benefit checks? (pittsburghlive.com) 

"When a senior citizen's body is found hidden away -- as happened last week in Butler County -- authorities always check to see if someone is still cashing the benefits checks. And someone often is, judging from similar cases nationwide in recent years. Local and federal investigators are trying to determine whether Philip Royer, 56, continued to collect retirement benefits for his 90-year-old mother, Bobbie Royer, whose body was found last Wednesday inside a freezer in the Cranberry home they shared. '"That is part of the investigation," said Butler County District Attorney Randa Clark. "The Cranberry Township Police have been looking into that and are gathering whatever information they can about Social Security or any other kind of benefits she may have been receiving.' That phase of the investigation could be finished within the next couple of weeks, Clark said. Authorities also are trying to determine how the elderly woman died. Neighbors reported they had not seen Bobbie Royer anywhere from one to six months. An autopsy was conducted Saturday, and toxicology results are pending. Philip Royer has not been charged."

Medical examiner awaits results of toxicology study of frozen woman (timesonline.com) 

"Butler County authorities are waiting for toxicology results to determine the cause of death for a 90-year-old Cranberry Township woman found stuffed in a freezer last Wednesday. Allegheny County Medical Examiner Abdulrezak Shakir performed the autopsy on Bobbie Royer on Saturday, after allowing time for the body to thaw. Shakir conducted the autopsy at the request of Butler County, whose coroner was away from the office at the time the body was discovered. He said he still did not know the cause of death and wouldn't make a ruling until getting the results of toxicology tests. Police removed Bobbie Royer's body from a plastic bin at the Vandivort Drive home she shared with her 56-year-old son, Phillip Royer. Authorities would not comment on who alerted them to the case...."

More details about the frozen woman found in Cranberry freezer (post-gazette.com) 

"Butler County officials aren't saying much about a body that was found in the freezer of a small ranch-style house in Cranberry. The same isn't true for neighbors of 320 Vandervort Drive, where 90-year-old Bobbie Royer lived with her son, Phil Royer Jr., 56. Chuck Ross, of Cranberry, said he was shocked Wednesday evening when he overheard emergency responders at his next-door neighbor's house. They were talking about Mrs. Royer and the fact that her body had been found in the freezer. Authorities were hoping the body will be thawed enough to conduct an autopsy today. Until then, officials are staying mum...."

Preserved body of woman found in Cranberry home's freezer (pittsburghlive.com) 

"An autopsy will be conducted today to determine how an elderly Cranberry woman found stuffed in a freezer died, authorities said Friday. The body of Bobbie Royer, 90, was removed Wednesday in a plastic bin from the home she shared on Vandivort Drive with her son, Philip Royer, 56. Neighbors told Cranberry police they had not seen Bobbie Royer for at least a month, Butler County District Attorney Randa Clark said. Police questioned and released Philip Royer, Clark said. No charges have been filed in the case.... Allegheny County Medical Examiner Abdulrezak Shakir said Bobbie Royer's body must thaw before an autopsy can determine the cause and manner of death. Shakir will perform the autopsy as a private forensic pathologist. Philip Royer had been caring for his mother, who long had been ill, neighbors said.... "

A look at the Celtic mummies of China (independent.co.uk) 

"Solid as a warrior of the Caledonii tribe, the man's hair is reddish brown flecked with grey, framing high cheekbones, a long nose, full lips and a ginger beard. When he lived three thousand years ago, he stood six feet tall, and was buried wearing a red twill tunic and tartan leggings. He looks like a Bronze Age European. In fact, he's every inch a Celt. Even his DNA says so. But this is no early Celt from central Scotland. This is the mummified corpse of Cherchen Man, unearthed from the scorched sands of the Taklamakan Desert in the far-flung region of Xinjiang in western China, and now housed in a new museum in the provincial capital of Urumqi. In the language spoken by the local Uighur people in Xinjiang, 'Taklamakan' means: 'You come in and never come out.' The extraordinary thing is that Cherchen Man was found - with the mummies of three women and a baby - in a burial site thousands of miles to the east of where the Celts established their biggest settlements in France and the British Isles...." 

Discovery (perhaps minus the mummy) will have major exhibition in Berlin, Germany next year (spiegel.de; with slide show link) 

"The spectacular find of the frozen remains of a Scythian warrior in Mongolia by an international team of archeologists could shed new light on ancient life. Some of those findings will be the subject of a major exhibition in Berlin next year. Scientists in Berlin this week gave their first major press conference about the spectacular discovery of a frozen mummy in Mongolia's Altai mountains. The frozen corpse, embedded in permafrost, is considered one of the greatest archeological finds since climbers came across the mummified remains of Ötzi, the ice man, in an alpine glacier. The corpse of the Scythian warrior could help provide clues about how people lived 2,500 years ago and about what illnesses they suffered. 'The mummy is unbelievably valuable to science,' Hermann Parzinger, president of the German Archeological Institute (DAI), said on Thursday in Berlin. He described the mummy recently discovered in Mongolia as a 'one of a kind find' that could increase our knowledge about the nutrition and health of early man. The mummy, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old was a 30-to-40 year-old man with blond hair, and was found in very good condition, Patzinger said. It's too delicate for exhibition, but new techniques developed following other recent discoveries of frozen mummies will enable scientists to study the remains in detail...."

First photos of Scythian mummy released (bbc.co.uk) 

"An international group of archaeologists has shown photos of a well-preserved 2,500-year-old mummy of a Scythian warrior found in Mongolia. The mummy was hailed as a "fabulous find" at a news conference in Berlin. It was unearthed at a height of 2,600m (8,500ft) in an intact burial mound in the Altai Mountains this summer. Until now remains of the Scythians - who were Iranian nomadic peoples - had only been found on the Russian side of the Altai, the scientists said. The mummy was found in the snow-capped mountains by the team of scientists from Germany, Russia and Mongolia...."

Photo of mummy (head on the left)     Photo of mummy's legs and felt boots     Photo of mummy's torso with wooden belt buckle     Photo of mummy's face     Photo of horse figure found in grave     Photo of intact burial chamber

Filmed by German TV crew, 'sensational' mummy of Scythian soldier found in burial chamber (mongolia-web.com) 

"Research workers of the German archaeological institute have discovered a mummy in permafrost at excavation work in Mongolia of approximately 2,500 years old. At the 'sensational find' of a sepulchre chamber of the Scythian rider people a crew of the German television sender ZDF were present. In front of the camera the archaeologists opened the sepulchre where the mummy of the Scythian soldier was stored. The mummy, conserved in permafrost, carried still a fur coat and had a decorated gilded head ornament. According to the scientists the discovery is similar with those of the legendary Ötzi in 1991, and the tattooed Siberian ice princess from 1993."

"The frozen body of a British mountaineer who disappeared 17 years ago has been found in the Italian Alps. Michael Seavers was 30 when he vanished in a fierce snowstorm on Mont Blanc with three other climbers. The bodies of William Ogburn, 32, of Devizes, Wilts, and Leslie Byron Lawrence, 29, of Marlborough, Wilts, were discovered six months later. But Michael, from Bristol, and his German friend, Dirk Ziolkowske, 24, were not found until a guide spotted them in a melting glacier. Rescue teams recovered their preserved bodies which were 10,500ft up Europe's highest mountain, close to the Toula glacier. Delfino Veglione, of Aosta region mountain rescue, said: "The freezing temperatures have preserved the bodies remarkably well. They were found frozen to each other which suggests they were huddling together to keep warm...."

Von Hagens' Body Worlds responds to criticism about the origin of Chinese bodies (biz.yahoo.com) 

"Budding reporters wishing to learn the anatomy of media bias need look no further than Neda Ulaby's series on public anatomical exhibitions or "cadaver shows," as she insists on calling them. In her broadcasts and Reporter's Notebook (NPR, All Things Considered, Aug 11-12) she plays fast and loose with principles of journalism, such as the discipline of verification and the identification of sources. In "Origins of Exhibited Cadavers Questioned," where the lone voice questioning the origins of the specimens in Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS is Ulaby herself, she states that though the donor death certificates have been matched with donor forms by renowned ethicist, Dr. Hans Martin Sass, "there's no clear paper trail from willing donors to exhibited bodies." On the contrary, there is a very clear paper trail between deceased donors and plastinated specimens that falls within the bounds of medical confidentiality. The Institute for Plastination has made as much donor information as possible available to museum lawyers and bio-ethicists, without violating the code of medical confidentiality. We will reveal the same information willingly to any legitimate government authority with jurisdiction in Germany that also honors medical confidentiality...."

The original criticism: From NPR and the New York Times

Where do the cadavers come from? (npr.org) 

"For two years now, exhibitions of human cadavers have been traveling the country, shown in science museums and other spaces. The shows, featuring corpses that have been preserved and solidified through a process called plastination, have been wildly successful. But they also have been dogged by criticism. One delicate ethical concern stands out above all the others: whether the bodies were legitimately obtained. Dr. Gunther von Hagens, the inventor of plastination and the impresario behind the Body Worlds exhibitions, says that every whole body exhibited in North America comes from fully informed European and American donors, who gave permission, in writing, for their bodies to be displayed. The science museums that have hosted Body Worlds also make this assurance.... Chinese medical schools supply von Hagens with unclaimed bodies, which he plastinates and sells to universities. Von Hagens used to take cadavers from the former Soviet Union, but he stopped after body-trafficking scandals in Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic.... " 

Plastination factories in China thrive with little oversight (nytimes.com; free registration required) 

"Tucked away in the back of this coastal city’s export-oriented manufacturing zone is a place that can only be described as a modern mummification factory. Inside a series of unmarked buildings, hundreds of Chinese workers, some seated in assembly line formations, are cleaning, cutting, dissecting, preserving and re-engineering human corpses, preparing them for the international museum exhibition market. 'Pull the cover off; pull it off,' one Chinese manager says as a team of workers begin to lift a blanket from the head of a cadaver stored in a stainless steel container filled with formalin, a chemical preservative. 'Let’s see the face; show the face.' The mastermind behind this operation is Gunther von Hagens, a 61-year-old German scientist whose show, “Body Worlds,” has attracted 20 million people worldwide over the past decade and has taken in over $200 million by displaying preserved, skinless human corpses with their well-defined muscles and sinewy tissues. But now with millions of people flocking to see “Body Worlds” and similar exhibitions, a ghastly new underground mini-industry has emerged in China. With little government oversight, an abundance of cheap medical school labor and easy access to cadavers and organs — which appear to come mostly from China and Europe — at least 10 other Chinese body factories have opened in the last few years. These companies are regularly filling exhibition orders, shipping preserved cadavers to Japan, South Korea and the United States...."

Owner doubts that baby mummy will be returned (concordmonitor.com) 

"When Charles Peavey of Concord learned in April that the police wanted his family's unusual heirloom - a mummified baby - he gave it up with a mix of trepidation and hope. The mummy and the stories surrounding it had been in Peavey's family for generations. But DNA testing could finally confirm whether that baby was truly a Peavey. It now seems unlikely the authorities will spend the few thousand dollars to do the DNA testing, said Peavey, 41. And worse, he said, he's been told he may not even get the mummy back. Instead, Dr. Marcella Sorg, the Maine forensic scientist examining the mummy, investigated only the cause of death and whether the corpse is diseased, he said. Sorg has finished her autopsy, the Concord police said, but has not submitted a report. Sorg could not be reached for comment, and neither the police nor Peavey has heard her conclusions...."

More on the mysterious mummified infant from New Hampshire

From May 2006: Did mummified infant come from Hawaii? (khon.com)

"The strange case of a mummified baby found in a home in New England may have a Hawaii connection.... A man who lives in the capital of New Hampshire, Concord, believes the body he kept in his home was part-Hawaiian.... Charles Peavy, a cook in Concord, New Hampshire, has had the mummified baby for eight years. He says it's been in his family for about 90 years, left among the possessions of his widely traveled great-great uncle. Peavy believes his great-great uncle fell in love with a Hawaiian woman and she and their baby died in childbirth. The mummy was kept in a box decorated with shells, bearing the words: 'sacred to the memory of our little Hawaiian home across the sea....' "

From A reporter's story: How to track down the owner of a mummified body (concordmonitor.com

"I've got at least another 30 years of newspaper reporting ahead of me, but I already know some of the stories I'll remember most. The election of Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson. Covering the state's abortion case at the U.S. Supreme Court. And last week's hunt for the mummy baby. Here's why: I'm more reporter than writer, and those three stories were tough to land. But none was harder than the mummy. It took me six days of knocking on strangers' doors and calling my best contacts to find the mummy. At a daily paper, that's an eternity. The initial tip came on a Friday, the busiest day in a newsroom, and I was in the middle of two stories. 'You ready for this?' the tipster said. 'There is a mummified baby in Concord. The Concord police got a call. That's all I know'...."

From April 2006:Investigation continues...and consequences become clearer (upi.com)

"New Hampshire investigators have seized a mummified baby's corpse that a family has been passing down as an heirloom for decades. Charles Peavey, 41, told Concord police he was told when he inherited "Baby John" from his father, it was the stillborn son of a great-great uncle. The state attorney general's office has forensic anthropologists investigating the infant's age, origin and cause of death to rule out homicide, but results could take months, the Concord Monitor reported. If no DNA link can be found to the Peavey clan, he will not receive the remains back. And if the infant is in fact more than 80 years old as Peavey claims, the statute of limitations on any laws regarding human remains have expired, the report said...." 

From April 2006: New Hampshire Attorney General's office to investigate (seacoastonline.com)

"A mummified baby that’s belonged to a local family for decades is being investigated by the state attorney general’s office. Charles Peavey, 41, said the tiny preserved corpse has been passed down in his family since it was discovered among his great-great uncle’s possessions in a Manchester attic. Investigators got word of the remains after Peavey’s 4-year-old niece was overheard telling another child that her uncle was a killer and had a dead baby. Police visited the girl’s mother and saw a photo of the mummy. Peavey contacted police when he learned they were investigating. Now the mummy is in the hands of investigators, and Peavey said he was told a forensic anthropologist would be examining it...." 

From April 2006: A family heirloom: Mysterious mummified infant? (concordmonitor.com)

"For decades, Charles Peavey's family has passed down what he admits is a most unusual family heirloom: the tiny corpse of a mummified baby whose mysterious history has been filled with legend. But Peavey, 41, of Concord had never considered the keepsake a problem until the Concord police learned of the remains last week and took them for testing. The state attorney general's office is investigating the infant's age, origin and cause of death to rule out homicide. It seems unlikely that Peavey will face criminal charges, but the investigation has him worried. Of all the stories surrounding the mummy's birth and death, Peavey favors the one that says he's an ancient relative - the stillborn son of a great-great uncle. He calls the mummy "Baby John." Through DNA testing, a forensic anthropologist will be able to determine whether that theory is plausible....."

FOR FURTHER READING:

Can mammoths be revived? A Japanese study of frozen mouse sperm suggests the possibility (msnbc.msn.com) 

"Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives. So far they've succeeded with mice — some frozen as long as 15 years — and lead researcher Dr. Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals. 'In this study, the rates of success with sperm from 15-year-frozen bodies were much higher than we expected. So the likelihood of mammoths revival would be higher than we expected before,' Ogura said in an interview via e-mail. While frozen sperm is commonly used by sperm banks, the team led by Ogura, at Riken Bioresource Center in Ibaraki, Japan, worked with sperm from whole frozen mice and from frozen mouse organs. 'If spermatozoa of extinct mammalian species can be retrieved from animal bodies that were kept frozen for millions of years in permafrost, live animals might be restored by injecting them into (eggs) from females of closely related species,' the researchers said in a paper appearing in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...."

Man receives probation for living sixteen months with mother's mummified body (nbc11.com) 

"A Fairfield man whose mother's mummified body was found in his home was sentenced to five years probation Thursday in Solano County Superior Court. Jack Ronald Wilson, 59, also was sentenced to the time he has already served in the Solano County Jail, more than 400 days, his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Thomas Hagler, said Monday morning. Police found the body of 79-year-old Kathleen Wilson on the kitchen floor of the family's home in the 1500 block of Utah Street in March 2005. It is believed she died in November 2003. Wilson was charged with elder abuse and involuntary manslaughter and faced 11 years in prison but pleaded no contest to two counts of elder abuse. His elderly father also lived in the home but now resides in a residential home, Hagler said...." 

From March 2005: Son charged with felonies in death of his mother (news10.net)

"The son of a Fairfield woman whose decaying body was found last week in the home they shared is facing charges of manslaughter and elder abuse. Jack Wilson, 58, heard the charges against him in Solano County Superior Court Tuesday. The district attorney is charging him with involuntary manslaughter, elder abuse causing death, and two counts of felony elder abuse.... The partially mummified body was later identified as that of 79-year-old Kathleen Wilson, the mother of the suspect. According to police, the son said his mother was injured by a fall in the home's kitchen in October 2003. Wilson, and the woman's husband, who lived in the home, gave her food occasionally as she lay there. She died about two-and-half weeks later. Police said Wilson made no attempt to call anyone after his mother died.... "

From March 2005: Son arrested in death of his elderly mother after her partially mummified body found on kitchen floor (dailyrepublic.com)

"Jack Wilson, 58, was booked on charges of elder abuse after police found a decaying body on the kitchen floor of the Utah Street house he and his parents lived in. Health and Social Services workers discovered the body Friday, and Wilson was outside of the house waiting when law enforcement arrived. He was taken at gunpoint for questioning, but didn't have a weapon and didn't resist.... Wilson and his father, 81-year-old Harry Wilson, were living in the house with the desiccated body, Gresham said.... Because the body is unidentified, police are still looking for Kathleen Wilson, Jack Wilson's mother and Harry Wilson's wife, who also lived in the house. Officials wouldn't speculate the body was Kathleen Wilson...."

From March 2005: No foul play in death of elderly mother after her partially mummified body found on kitchen floor (latimes.com)

"The Solano County coroner said there was no foul play in the death of a woman whose partially mummified body was found in a home last week. An autopsy of Kathleen Wilson, 79, found that she died naturally. Wilson's son, 58-year-old Jack Ronald Wilson, said his mother fell in the kitchen in October 2003 and died there a couple of weeks later, according to a police report. 'They tried to take care of her, fed her for a few weeks' as she lay injured, police said...."

From March 2005: Mummified woman found in Fairfield house (timesheraldonline.com)

"The partially mummified body of a woman was found Friday in the kitchen of a Fairfield home, and two men who live there were questioned by police. The dead woman was discovered by police officers who were called to the 1500 block of Utah Street by a county worker who deals with abuse of the elderly. The worker reported a foul smell emanating from the house. Witnesses said neighbors had recently become suspicious because an elderly woman who lived in the residence had not been seen for more than a year. That suspicion prompted a call to Solano County's elder abuse telephone line, neighbors said. Still, discovery of the body came as a shock...."

The Cloud People of Peru go on display in Bolzano (agi.it) 

"The Similaun mummy, better known as Oetzi, kept in a special freezer cell at the Bolzano Archaeological Museum, will be joined by 12 other human and animal mummies from the lesser known Chachapoya civilisation from Peru (800AD-1500AD) until November 15. The exceptional exhibition, entitled 'The Secret of the Cloud People. The Chachapoya amid the mists of the forests of Peru', is part of the collaboration between the Austrian Education, Science and Culture Ministry and the scientific committee for the Ice Man (Oetzi). During their stay at Bolzano, the mummies will be examined by experts with the use of special investigative apparatuses, with the hope of discovering new facts about these legendary people. In addition to the 12 mummies, there will also be hundreds of items for daily use and artistic handicraft products, textiles, ceramics, wood and metal. Unlike the similar mummies found in the Andes, such as the famous female Incan mummy ('Juanita') found encased in ice dating back to 1450, the mummies of the cloud people were part of a large funeral complex...."

Bolzano's South Tyrol Museum hosts Peruvian mummies (ansa.it) 

"Twelve mummies left behind by South America's mysterious and now extinct 'Cloud People' are to go on display this week in Bolzano ahead of scientific studies in Europe. The mummies, found 10 years ago in a cave 5,000 metres up an Andean mountain, arrived last week at the same museum which has become famous for hosting Oetzi, Europe's oldest natural mummy. The 12 preserved remains are known to be much more recent than Oetzi because the Chachapoyan people that produced them flourished for only 700 years, dying out during the 16th century. But although they are much younger, they are also much more mysterious...."

More on the psalm book found preserved in Irish bog

Museums reports that more pages from the psalm book have been recovered from County Tipperary bog; more details about original discovery provided (ireland.com) 

"More fragments of an ancient manuscript concealed in a Co Tipperary bog over 1,000 years ago with a view to later recovery, have been found by the National Museum of Ireland.... The discoveries also include a fine leather pouch in which the manuscript was originally kept. Museum experts have excavated the site at Faddan More, in north Tipperary, since the discovery of the manuscript last month by excavator driver Eddie Fogarty. He found the book on July 20th while digging peat on a bog owned by brothers Kevin and Patrick Leonard, according to a statement issued by the museum last night. It said archaeologists and conservators had completed excavation of the area where the ancient manuscript was found. It described the find as 'an extremely significant discovery'."

Not a body, but a thousand-year-old psalm book turns up in Irish bog (guardian.co.uk) 

"Irish archaeologists are celebrating the discovery of their own Dead Sea scrolls after a bulldozer unearthed fragments of a psalter that may have lain in a bog for more than 1,000 years. The book of psalms was found last Thursday when an engineer excavating bogland in the midlands noticed a bundle near his digger's scoop. It turned out to be the animal skin pages of an early Christian psalter that appears to date back as far as AD800. One psalm - number 89 - was still legible. The National Museum of Ireland hailed the discovery as the "Irish equivalent to the Dead Sea scrolls" and the "greatest find ever from a European bog". The Dead Sea scrolls, found in the mid-20th century, contain some of the earliest known surviving biblical documents. Specialists at the museum said it was impossible to know how the manuscript ended up in the bog, but believe it may have been lost in transit or dumped after a Viking raid, possibly 1,000 to 1,200 years ago...."

Twenty-page book of psalms was opened to Psalm 83 (msnbc.msn.com) 

"Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker who spotted something while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog. The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries. 'This is really a miracle find,' said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration and facing years of painstaking analysis before being put on public display...."

Detailed description of the second mummy room (weekly.ahram.org.eg)

"The Egyptian Museum opened a second mummy chamber Sunday where the mummies of 11 royal figures from the 20th dynasty of the New Kingdom were put on display. A large crowd of tourists and journalists swarmed the chamber as Supreme Antiquities Council Secretary General Zahi Hawass gave information on the history of the discoveries and the mummified royal figures. The room is designed like a royal tomb with vaulted ceiling and indirect low lighting to exhibit the mummies. The exhibition includes the mummies of Ramses III and priests of Amun who succeeded in ruling the southern half of Egypt as priest kings and proclaiming Thebes as Egypt's religious capital. Each mummy is showcased in a rectangular glass container that is supplied with a small electronic device to observe and control the humidity level around the mummy minute by minute...."

Mummified finger of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V tested for gout (reuters.com) 

"Tests of a 500-year-old pinky finger confirm that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was debilitated by gout and the painful joints it produces, Spanish researchers reported on Wednesday. Jaume Ordi of the University of Barcelona and colleagues used a microscope to examine the tip of one of Charles' pinkie fingers, which was preserved separately from his body in a small red velvet box. After rehydrating and slicing the mummified fingertip, the Ordi team found telltale signs of gout, including the buildup of uric acid crystals. At the height of his 40-year reign from 1516 to 1556, Charles V controlled lands in Europe, Africa and Asia and even conquered parts of the Inca Kingdom of Peru and the Aztec Empire of Mexico...."

More details about the test on Charles V's mummified finger (cnn.com)

"A 450-year-old piece of Charles V's pinkie lends support to the theory that it was gout that led one of the most powerful rulers of all time to abdicate, Spanish researchers report. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whose empire stretched across Europe and included Spanish America, was diagnosed with gout by his doctors in early adulthood. By the end of his reign in 1556, he was a crippled man who could barely walk at times or ride a horse, said Dr. Pedro Luis Fernandez, a pathologist at the University of Barcelona.... To confirm the diagnosis of gout, a form of arthritis, the scientists did laboratory tests on a mummified piece of Charles V's little finger. Fernandez said the fingertip was taken from his corpse at some point and later returned. It is kept in a red velvet box at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, outside Madrid, where Charles V, who was also king of Spain, is buried...."