A new wave of frozen mummies? (telegraph.co.uk) 

"Defying the old saying that you can't take it with you, some of America's richest men are planning to enjoy their fortunes from beyond the grave. They are preparing not only to have their bodies deep-frozen at the moment of death but also to use a tax loophole to bequeath their wealth to themselves. Known as personal revival trusts, the schemes invest millions of dollars until future medical technology makes it possible to bring the beneficiaries back to life. Believers in "cryonics" sign up to private companies which will suspend their remains in liquid nitrogen and store them for what may be hundreds of years. Most are extremely wealthy - necessarily so, given the $150,000 cost of preserving a body. Now they are seeking to ensure enough future funds to pay for their revival - and for their living expenses in what might be 23rd-century America...."

Meet the two latest bog body discoveries

Is Clonycavan Man an Iron Age David Beckham? (bbc.co.uk) with photo

"Scientists at Dundee University have helped to recreate the face of a man dubbed the Iron Age David Beckham because of evidence he gelled his hair. Clonycavan Man, named after the area he was found, was one of two bodies discovered in a peat bog in the Republic of Ireland in 2003. The chemical composition of the peat mummified the body, enabling scientists to recreate his face...." 

Facial reconstruction of Clonycavan Man revealed (scotsman.com) with photo

"The hair-gelled head of an ancient Celt, dubbed the Iron Age Beckham because of his slicked-back look, has been reconstructed by Scots scientists. Examinations of the Clonycavan man, found fully preserved in a peat bog in Ireland, revealed he used a gel made from a mixture of plant oil and pine resin, believed to be from south-west France or Spain, on his hair.... Now a team of scientists at the University of Dundee has reconstructed the Iron Age face from the man's preserved remains, and Dr Caroline Wilkinson, a forensic anthropologist, said that the discovery of the primitive hair product was one of the more "surprising" finds of the project.... The forensic scientists were in an unusual position when reconstructing the man's facial features because his skull had dissolved due to the acidic chemical composition of the peat bog where he was found...." 

Clonycavan Man used imported French hair gel (nationalgeographic.com) with photo 

"Fancy imported hair gel is, unfortunately, no guard against a good solid axe blow to the skull. This sad fact is illuminated by Clonycavan man (pictured above) who suffered three blows from an axe to his head, one to his chest, and was also disemboweled before being mummified in an Irish peat bog. Experts studying the remains of the murder victim say he likely lived between 392 B.C. and 201 B.C. The man's hair contains a substance made from vegetable oil mixed with resin from pine trees found in Spain and southwest France. The man might have used the product, researchers say, to make himself appear taller...." 

Oldcroghan Man had manicured nails (nationalgeographic.com) with photo 

"Male grooming has an ancient history in Ireland, if the savagely murdered bodies of two ancient "bog men" are anything to go by. One shows the first known example of Iron Age hair gel, experts say. The other wore manicured nails and stood 6 feet 6 inches (198 centimeters) tall. Discovered in peat bogs in central Ireland, the well-preserved human remains were unveiled this month in Dublin. Researchers say the men were probably wealthy, well-connected individuals. Living well over 2,000 years ago, both were tortured and killed while in their early 20s, possibly as ritual sacrifices.... Oldcroghan man was preserved so perfectly that his discovery sparked a police murder investigation before archaeologists were called in....." 

Two Iron Age bog bodies unveiled in Dublin (bbc.co.uk) with photo 

"Archaeologists have unveiled two Iron Age "bog bodies" which were found in the Republic of Ireland. The bodies, which are both male and have been dated to more than 2,000 years ago, probably belong to the victims of a ritual sacrifice. In common with other bog bodies, they show signs of having been tortured before their deaths.... The first body dropped off a peat cutting machine in February 2003 in Clonycavan, near Dublin. The forearms, hands and lower abdomen are missing, believed to have been hacked off by the machine. The second was found in May the same year in Croghan.... Old Croghan Man, as it has become known, was missing a head and lower limbs. It was discovered by workmen clearing a drainage ditch through a peat bog...."

One of the men used prehistoric hair gel (reuters.co.uk) 

"The preserved remains of two prehistoric men discovered in an Irish bog have revealed a couple of surprises --- one used hair gel and the other stood 6 foot 6 inches high, the tallest Iron Age body discovered.... The fashion-conscious gel wearer has been named Clonycavan Man and Kelly said the fact he was able to buy imported cosmetics suggests he was a wealthy member of Irish society about 2,300 years ago. The other was dubbed Oldcroghan Man...."

More details of the discovery (mirror.co.uk) 

"Tortured, maimed and disembowelled, the two savagely slaughtered bodies were a grisly sight for the Irish peat bog workers who unearthed them. One of the dead men was found in County Meath, Ireland. The other was discovered three months later, just 25 miles away in Co Offaly. With soft flesh, fingernails, masses of red hair, teeth and eyeballs still intact, it seemed that the corpses had been freshly buried. And detectives thought they had stumbled across IRA victims. But when state pathologist Marie Cassidy saw the water-logged graves, she suspected the remains were much older than they seemed...."

Did St. Louis museum purchase a stolen mummy case? (stltoday.com) 

"A one-time forger and art smuggler has accused the St. Louis Art Museum of purchasing in 1998 a stolen Egyptian mummy mask and displaying it in its galleries. Museum director Brent Benjamin said the history of the mask was thoroughly researched before its purchase, and he is confident the piece was not stolen. The accusation comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the international trade in antiquities. This case also illustrates the difficulty of constructing complete records detailing the ownership of ancient objects - proving the object wasn't stolen or forged...."

Diving plastinated woman added to Toronto 'Body Worlds' exhibit (stltoday.com)

" 'The Head Diver,' is a new plastinated donor specimen which will be joining Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS 2: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies at the Ontario Science Centre. She is full of grace and poise, and her intention to make a perfect dive is evident. Her front torso leans towards the water, back half arches dramatically, and her internal organs and legs are stabilized at the center by perfectly pointed feet. Preserved through Plastination - Dr. Gunther von Hagens' method of halting decomposition of the body by replacing all bodily fluids with polymers - the specimen is an athletic woman in her physical prime. She is the seventh female plastinate to join the exhibit, and a reminder of the growing number of female donors signing on to the exhibit's Body Donation Program, such as the first Canadian body donor, Stephanie Chapu who recently announced her decision to donate her body for plastination...."

Sydney and Melbourne to exhibit plastinated corpse show (theage.com.au) with photo

"A macabre show of skinned human corpses open to children as young as seven is planned for Melbourne. The Amazing Human Body Exhibition - which features 20 whole human bodies that have been preserved and then placed in a range of poses - will open at Sydney's SuperDome on February 3. Show organisers hope to bring the exhibition to Melbourne soon after...."

More on frozen WWII airman found in California glacier

Forensic anthropologists could ID airman this month (honoluluadvertiser.com)

"The solemn tone of Scott Shriver's voice is noticeable, even though he insists he's not disappointed that his long-lost uncle may not be the mummified airman carved from a California glacier decades after he vanished on an Army training flight. Forensic anthropologists with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base are trying to match the remains with one of four airmen lost in 1942. That could happen this month. But Shriver said a lab official already told him that his uncle — Army Aviation Cadet Ernest G. Munn — is probably not the person discovered in October in the Sierra Nevada mountain range...."

Airman's possessions studied to determine identity (washingtontimes.com)

"The airman's possessions, laid out on a table, offer a glimpse of America circa 1942: a fountain pen, three severely damaged address books and 51 cents in dimes, nickels and pennies, dated 1920 to 1942. A handwritten note inside one of the address books reveals the words 'all the girls know,' but the rest is deteriorated and illegible. Forensic scientists at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command are using these and other clues to help them identify a World War II airman whose remarkably well-preserved body was chipped out of a California glacier last month after two mountain climbers discovered his head and arm jutting out of the ice..."

Down to one: Special light source reveals name of one airman (honoluluadvertiser.com)

"Forensic anthropologists in Hawai'i trying to identify the mummified remains of a World War II Army airman have narrowed the list of possible identities to one of four airmen killed in a 1942 crash. By using a special light source, Paul Emanovsky, a forensic anthropologist at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command's identification lab at Hickam Air Force Base, was able to read enough letters on a corroded name tag found with the remains last month, said Army Maj. Rumi Nielson-Green.... The letters would be invisible to the naked eye, she said...."

Identification of frozen airman narrows to four possibilities (signonsandiego.com)

"A military lab scientist said forensic experts working to identify the recently discovered frozen remains of a World War II airman have narrowed down the possibilities to four. Dr. Robert Mann told CNN in an interview Tuesday that analysts have singled out the plane the airman was aboard when it crashed in California some 60 years ago. Records show there were four crew members aboard that plane. The Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command had earlier been looking at 10 possibilities for the identity of the serviceman, whose body was found Oct. 16 jutting out of solid ice atop a mountain in a national park...."

Body arrives in Hawaii for identification process (bakersfieldonline.us)

"The well-preserved remains of a World War II airman found frozen in the Sierra Nevada arrived at a military laboratory for identification. A pen, small notebook, hair comb and coins were recovered inside the airman's Army uniform, officials said. His dog tags were not immediately found, but a badly corroded name badge on the uniform will be examined.... Maj. Rumi Nielson-Green said officials at JPAC's Central Identification Laboratory have narrowed the list of possible missing servicemen to fewer than 10 individuals, but the list could change any time. The airman, apparently a Caucasian with fair hair, was flown to Hawaii in a blue body bag inside a U.S. flag-draped metal casket. It was transported to the lab in a military van and unloaded by four soldiers. Inside the lab, two forensic anthropologists and a dentist will examine the body, teeth and clothing during the identification process, which could take as little as a few weeks or many months or perhaps years.... An identification could solve part of a decades-old mystery - the disappearance of a navigational training plane that left a Sacramento airfield in November 1942 carrying a crew of four on a routine flight. The pilot was 2nd Lt. William A Gamber, 23, of Fayette, Ohio. The three aviation cadets aboard were aviation Cadet Ernest Munn, 23, of St. Clairsville, Ohio; John Mortenson, 25, of Moscow, Idaho; and Leo M. Mustonen, 22, of Brainerd, Minn...."

Others believe the airman may have hailed from Minnesota (duluthsuperior.com)

"In the weeks after Leo Mustonen disappeared, telegrams arrived regularly at the Brainerd home of his parents, telling Arvid and Anna Mustonen about effortsto find a training plane carrying U.S. Army Air Corps cadets that had vanished somewhere in the California hills on Nov. 18, 1942. Last week, decades after Arvid and Anna took their grief to their graves, authorities announced that one of the airmen -- his body intact, wearing a uniform and frozen in a glacier -- has been found. The young man's identity may not be verified for months, but it is likely that he is Leo Mustonen or one of his three comrades, who disappeared into a dawn sky nearly 63 years ago...."

Some investigators track identity of airman to St. Clairsville, Ohio (news-register.net)

"More than 60 years have passed since U.S. Army Air Forces aviation Cadet Ernest Munn disappeared along with the rest of his flight crew over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but investigators and family members believe the Belmont County man's remains may finally have been found.... Jeanne Pyle, 85, of Pleasant Grove is Munn's oldest sister. She described her brother as 'real outgoing,' noting that 'everybody loved him....' Following her brother's disappearance, Pyle said, people from the family's church and members of their extended family would check to see if there was any word about him and offer their condolences. She pointed out that because many families were losing young men to World War II, there was no special observance of the loss in the community...." 

Mummified flier may be named on California tombstone (newutah.com)

"For nearly 60 years, the names of a pilot and three crew members who died when their plane crashed into an icy peak in the Sierra Nevada have been etched on a military gravestone while most of their remains have rested on a lonely mountain. On Friday, a coroner was examining fresh clues given up by a receding glacier this week and trying to identify the frozen body of a fair-haired World War II airman that climbers found intact and still wearing his parachute. The identity could solve part of a decades-old mystery of what happened after the AT-7 navigational training plane left a Sacramento airfield Nov. 18, 1942, for a routine training flight through the Central Valley -- never to be heard from again...." 

Excavation begins on mummy of suspected World War II flier (cbsnews.com)

"Rangers in Kings Canyon National Park and a military recovery expert started excavating a glacier-entombed corpse on Wednesday. The body is believed to be a World War II airman who died in a 1942 plane crash. Two ice climbers reported seeing a frozen head, shoulder and arm while climbing the glacier on the side of 13,710-foot Mount Mendel in the Sierra Nevada on Sunday, park spokesperson Alexandra Picavet said. The body was 80 percent encased in ice, and still wearing an Army-issued parachute.Officials say the man's torn sweater reveals skin, and parts of his sandy-blonde hair are still intact..."

World War II flier found frozen in Mount Mendel Glacier (abclocal.go.com)

"It was a plane crash back in 1942 that wasn't discovered until 1947. Now, hikers made a frozen discovery in connection with a World War II plane crash. Hikers found the frozen body of an airman while scaling Mount Mendel Glacier in the Sequoia National Park. Now, the military is working to find out who this airman is and whether he was ever reported missing. It's believed the airman has been frozen in the glacier for decades until a pair of climbers got much more than ever imagined on a hike...."

Coming this August: Three mummified child sacrifices of the Incas (bloomberg.com)

"Everyone in Salta, Argentina, knows where the bodies are buried. The frozen remains of three youngsters who died in an Inca suicide ritual more than 500 years ago are stored in freezers inside a sterile white room in the Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana, a museum in northwest Argentina dedicated to their preservation and legacy. Simple red labels on the freezer doors spell out their modern monikers: El Nino (The Boy), La Nina del Rayo (The Lightning Girl) and La Doncella (The Maiden). At the time of their deaths, their estimated ages ranged from 6 to 15. They are among the best-preserved ancient bodies ever found. The brains are whole, the skin is intact and lice can still be seen in their hair. Currently swaddled in white-cotton sheeting and thick plastic, the bodies will be put on public display in August...."

Will the mummy of John Wilkes Booth (or his imposter) ever be found? (hcnews.com) 

"...the mummy of a distinguished gentleman named either John Wilkes Booth, John St. Helen or David E. George continues to be missing in action. It was last spotted on the freak show circuit in New Hope, Pa., in 1975. ...the leathery curio is presently in one of two places: Six feet under, where it probably should have been originally, or in someone’s living room, displayed like a stuffed bass...."

'Napoleon in Egypt' opens in Macon (macon.com)

"Napoleon Bonaparte is well-known for his military victories, his habit of placing one hand in his jacket and his love for his wife, Josephine. Bet you didn't know that his 1798 invasion of Egypt helped kick off 'Egyptomania' across Europe and fostered the modern study of archeology. Along with his armies, Napoleon brought a crew of 150 people to document ancient Egypt's treasures, and along the way they dug up the Rosetta stone. Now on display at the British Museum in London, the famed slab helped cracked the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics by including Greek translations. That's all documented in the latest exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, 'Napoleon in Egypt....' It'll include letters written by Napoleon while in Cairo, newspaper accounts of his time there and engravings that his crew produced, Brier said, along with amulets, pottery, treasures and a mummy.... "

Italian son placed his mother's body in sealed wardrobe for three years and accidentally turned her into mummy as he collected her pension (reuters.co.uk) 

"An Italian man 'mummified' the body of his 71-year-old mother when she died, stashing it away in the bedroom wardrobe three years ago and sealing it with silicone gel. The grisly secret was kept until this week, when the landlord stumbled upon the 'house of horrors' during a routine check of the rented property near the north Italian town of Aqui Terme. He first found the body of the 35-year-old son, Mirko Sartori, who police said was killed while working on his car...."

More details emerge (timesonline.co.uk) 

"In an echo of Alfred Hitchcock’s spine-chilling thriller Psycho, an Italian man kept the dead body of his widowed 71-year-old mother in her bedroom wardrobe for three years, pretending to neighbours that she had become a recluse. Mirko Sartori’s grisly secret emerged when his landlord called round to find out why the rent had not been paid. The landlord first found Signor Sartori’s body, crushed beneath his red Fiat Panda in the garage, and then a note nearby saying “Mother forgive me.” It was not clear whether Signor Sartori had intended to kill himself or whether the car jack had simply collapsed. He had been dead for a fortnight. The landlord, Antonio Barbasso, called police, who found Signor Sartori’s mother in a wardrobe sealed with silicon. Her son had continued to collect her pension and her medicines from the local chemist. Forensic scientists said that Anna Pelloni’s body was effectively “mummified” inside the airtight cupboard...." 

Dead woman left in front of TV for over two years, turned into natural mummy (msnbc.com) 

"The mummified body of a woman who didn’t want to be buried was found in a chair in front of her television set 2 1/2 years after her death, authorities said. Johannas Pope had told her live-in caregiver that she didn’t want to be buried and planned on returning after she died, Hamilton County Coroner O’Dell Owens said Monday. Johannas Pope had told her live-in caregiver that she didn’t want to be buried and planned on returning after she died, Hamilton County Coroner O’Dell Owens said Monday...."

Woman believed she would return to life (ketv.com) 

"It may be weeks before officials know what killed an Ohio woman whose mummified remains were discovered in a chair in front of her television set. Johannas Pope's body was found last week in the upstairs of her Home in Madisonville, Ohio. She died two-and-a-half years ago at age 61. Johannas Pope's body was found last week in the upstairs of her Home in Madisonville, Ohio. She died two-and-a-half years ago at age 61. The air-conditioning unit mummified Pope's body, Coroner O'dell Owens said...."

Body of Buddhist monk will be mummified (bbc.co.uk) 

"Buddhist monks in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh have decided to preserve the body of their master so he can be worshipped forever. Disciples of Yogi Amtrin, who died on 1 July last year aged 84, plan to mummify his body, breaking with tradition. Tibetan Buddhists oppose preserving the dead, but his followers want to continue to be able to pay respects. Yogi Amtrin, who belonged to the minority Drupka Kargu sect, came to India from Tibet nearly 45 years ago. He spent years teaching yoga and meditation at the Khampagar monastery at Tashijong in the Kangra valley - 260km (160 miles) away from the state capital, Shimla. Khampagar is considered to be the oldest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India. Since his death, the monk's body has been placed in a wooden box [in a lotus sitting posture as if he is meditating] ... packed with salt which is changed every two months....  Salt removes the moisture from the body, preventing decay. Disciples say the mummification process will take a year...." 

 The plaster casts of Pompeii: A reason to visit the Field Museum before the end of March (statesman.com)

"Coins, fused by heat. Lavish jewelry, shoved into pockets by people trying to flee. A dog, twisted in anguish. And families, huddled beneath archways for protection against skies raining ash and pumice. It's hard to imagine a whole city frozen in time by the suffocating blanket of a volcanic eruption. But 'Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption' gives a glimpse of the horror that unfolded when Mount Vesuvius erupted some 2,000 years ago. The exhibit is on display through March 26 at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. I spent two hours exploring it during a recent trip, tearing myself away from the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton and the darkened roomful of mummies to imagine what it was like to live in Pompeii at the time...."

Recent analysis fills in details about the life and times of Sylvester at Seattle's 'Ye Olde Curiosity Shop' (discovery.com) 

"Recent analysis of a mummy nicknamed 'Sylvester,' who is believed to have been a 19th century cowboy, validates some Wild West lore popularized in movie westerns, but dispels at least one myth, suggests the director of the research project. Since shotgun pellets blasted Sylvester's right cheek years before his death, and he appears to have survived another bullet to his collarbone, the 'wild' in Wild West appears true. His liver, however, was in good condition, so not all cowboys drank as hard as they otherwise lived. The mummy was owned by a California doctor whose uncle was one of two cowboys who found Sylvester’s body in 1895 as they galloped through Arizona’s Gila Bend Desert...."

A battle of the plastinated bodies: Houston to feature completing plastination exhibits (chron.com)

"The cadaver is posed mid-sprint, with prosciutto-like slices of muscle flying off his arms and legs as if he's outrunning his own flesh. Another cadaver is seated, chin on his fist, mimicking Rodin's Thinker with his brain and spinal cord exposed. Grotesque or beautiful? Houstonians soon will get to decide — at one of two venues. A battle of the bodies is brewing as competing versions of a controversial exhibit of preserved human corpses head to Houston. The first, Bodies: The Exhibition will open in mid-April for a six-month run at the John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science. The Museum of Natural Science will unveil the second, the original Body Worlds, sometime this summer.... "

Used as mummy wrapping, world's oldest map now on display in Turin (ansa.it)

"Turin is to uncover the world's oldest surviving map as part of the rich programme of cultural events accompanying February's Winter Olympics. The 1st-century-BC Papyrus of Artemidorus, which contains the map, will go on display for the first time ever at the city's Palazzo Bricherasio from February 8 to May 7.... [It] shows roads, rivers and settlements in an attempt to depict realistic spatial arrangements; something which makes it the first example of the kind of map used today.... The parchment, along with other documents and letters, later formed part of the material used to prepare a mummy. This made sure it was preserved for posterity...."

Man lives with mummified body of wife for a year (news24.com) 

"A 71-year-old man in Germany lived for about a year with the decomposing body of his wife until neighbors reported the stench from their apartment to authorities, said police on Wednesday...."

Cairo's Egyptian Museum to get new mummy hall this month (africast.com)

" 'A new hall for mummies will open at the Egyptian Museum in a fortnight's time,' said Zahi Hawass, Secretary- General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The government noted that 'The first hall contains the mummies of the Egyptian warrior Pharaohs from Sekhen-en-Ra to Ramses II, while the new hall will house the mummies of the high priests of Amun, Hawass added.' " 

Giza souvenir seller busted for offering ancient mummy for sale (timesonline.co.uk)

"Officers of Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities police arrested a Giza souvenir shop owner last week after he tried to sell a mummy for $10m (£5.8m). Ahmed al-Jabari was taken into custody after a raid on his shop, located near the Pyramids Plateau, revealed 126 items from the pharaonic era, including 27 necklaces — one of which was made from gold — and 18 amulets. The mummy, alleged to have been offered in its original packaging of a limestone sarcophagus, was not found on the premises...."