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June 2006 |
DISCOVERY:
EGYPT
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More on the discovery of
an intact Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings
Tut's
mum not found in tomb (cnn.com)
"Archaeologists
hoped the first tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 80 years
would hold the mummy of King Tut's mother. They opened the last of eight
sarcophagi Wednesday, revealing no mummies but finding something almost as
valuable: embalming materials and ancient woven flowers. Hushed
researchers craned their necks and media scuffled inside the stiflingly
hot underground stone chamber as Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass
slowly cracked open the coffin's lid -- for what scientists believe is the
first time in more than 3,000 years. But instead of a mummy, as
archaeologists had expected, the coffin revealed a tangle of fabric and
rusty-colored dehydrated flowers woven together in laurels that looked
likely to crumble to dust if touched...."
Is
King Tut's wife buried in KV-63? (dailytelegraph.com.au)
"It has been 84
years since Egypt's famed Valley of the Kings revealed its last great
riches – the fabulous gold of Tutankhamen's tomb. Now archaeologists
believe they have stumbled across one final secret: The mummified
remains of the boy king's widow buried 3000 years ago. In a mysterious
shaft less than 15m from Tutankhamen's burial ground, US archaeologists
found seven coffins. They believe one they have not yet been able to
open may contain the remains of Queen Ankhesenpaaten. The tomb – found
by accident by Memphis University team leader Dr Otto Schaden –
contained seven coffins stacked closely together and ringed by 28 clay
jars, each decorated with a beautiful face mask. The coffins were buried
about 1320BC...."
Another
final word? (msnbc.com)
"Is it a royal
Egyptian tomb, a glorified supply room for ancient embalmers, or
something in between? A year after the discovery of a chamber that had
lain hidden in the Valley of the Kings for millennia, archaeologists are
still asking themselves exactly what they've found. When the find was
announced in February, it was portrayed as the first tomb to be
uncovered in the pharaonic city of the dead since the discovery of King
Tutankhamun's treasures in 1922. But a month later, top Egyptian
archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the chamber was merely a "room for
mummification" rather than a royal resting place. Now it looks as
if neither of those claims was true. One scenario is that the chamber,
known as KV-63, was originally created as a tomb, then ended up as a
cache for sacred supplies. However, the head of the KV-63 expedition is
still holding out the possibility that at least one mummy will be found
among the chamber's seven coffins."
THE
COMPLETE UPDATE
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June 2006 |
MUMMY
SCIENCE:
MILWAUKEE
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Akhmim
Mummy Studies Consortium scans two Milwaukee mummies (bradenton.com)
"The patient
inside the CT scan didn't have to be reminded to stay still. He hasn't
moved in over 2,500 years. Last week, two mummies from the Milwaukee
Public Museum received state-of-the-art computerized tomography, or CT,
scans at GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wisc. The scans will produce
three-dimensional images of the mummies that will help uncover how these
ancient Egyptians lived and died. Researchers also will be able to
visualize what the mummies looked like when they were alive and build
sculptures of their faces. Carter Lupton, an archaeologist and vice
president of museum programs, will analyze the images over the next few
weeks. Because the mummies have been scanned before, he has a general
idea of what he'll find. But, he said, advances in technology will
provide clearer pictures...."
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June 2006 |
MUMMY
SCIENCE:
RUSSIA
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Frozen
brains await resurrection (times.spb.ru)
"Lidia Fedorenko
loved life. There were her friends, family and, of course, all the
former math students she had taught over the decades. So when the
79-year-old St. Petersburg native suffered a stroke in September, dying
a week later, her grandson, Daniil Fedorenko, knew what to do: freeze
her brain.... Today, Lidia Ivanovna’s brain sits in a metal container
in a former schoolhouse in the village of Alabushevo. Her last wish was
resurrection. Kriorus, a recently founded cryonics outfit, guards over
her cerebral matter and that of a wealthy Moscow businessman’s
60-year-old father, who died of throat cancer in 2002. Kriorus declined
to name the deceased man...."
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June 2006 |
MUMMY
SCIENCE:
UK
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Scans
reveal that crocodile mummy sellers conned buyers in ancient Egypt
(guardian.co.uk)
"Modern medical
science has exposed the villainy of the crocodile mummy sellers of
Hawara, more than 2,000 years after they defied the edict of a Pharaoh
and turned neatly bandaged bundles of rubbish into a nice little earner.
Before the reopening this month of the Egyptian Galleries at the
Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, curators took their animal and human
mummies to the city's Addenbrooke's Hospital, as part of a £1.5m
re-display of the internationally renowned collection, which dates in
part back to the founding of the museum in 1816. Analysis continues
after the mummies were run through a CT scanner and other tests, but the
preliminary results are startling. The two baby crocodile shaped mummies
were originally sold to worshippers at the temple at Hawara, to be
buried in ritual pits as an offering to the god Sobek. There was clearly
a history of problems with the animal sellers: a pharaonic decree a
century earlier had ordered that each mummy should contain the body of
one animal...."
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June 2006 |
MUMMY
SCIENCE:
MALTA
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Scientists
scan mummified dinosaur to reveal inner secrets
(greatfallstribune.com)
"The absolute
latest in technology is helping solve a forensics mystery that is 77
million years old. Five years ago in the badlands north of Malta,
paleontologists uncovered a mummified duck-billed brachylophosauruses so
well preserved that much of its skin and soft tissue parts remained
along with its skeleton. In the years since, scientists have wondered
— if the skin was still there, what about its organs and tissues
inside? Technology has finally advanced enough to take a peek. And this
week, 20 experts in various fields are X-raying and photographing
Leonardo the dinosaur, even parts buried beneath thick
sandstone...."
Lawsuit
is over: German couple win their claim (discovery.com)
"Ötzi the Iceman
was discovered by the German couple Erika and Helmut Simon, an appeals
court in Bolzano, Italy, has ruled. Coming after years of court
proceedings, the judgement opens the possibility of a significant
finder's reward, which the provincial government of Bolzano has so far
denied. 'We think that 50,000 euros is a fair reward. We are not willing
to pay one cent more,' said Luis Durnwalder, president of the Italian
province of South Tyrol, during the court fight over the discovery of
the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy. Unless authorities file a
final appeal to Italy's highest court, Durnwalder will have to be much
more generous...."
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June 2006 |
BURIAL:
NORTH CAROLINA
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The
mummy in the cask (newsobserver.com)
"The simple cross
reads only "Nance." More is said on a larger family monument
nearby in Wilmington's historic Oakdale Cemetery. That family monument
reads: "Nancy Adams Martin, died May 25, 1857, aged twenty-four
years and twenty-one days. John Salter Martin was lost at sea, September
1857, aged thirty-four years. They were the eldest son and third
daughter of Silas H. and Margaret Martin." Even that, however,
fails to tell the tragic story of Nancy Martin, who was buried seated in
a chair, and John, whose body was never recovered from the sea. ...
Silas Homer Martin was an antebellum businessman, shipper and captain in
North Carolina's port city. Though a strong family man, he nevertheless
enjoyed being at sea for long periods of time. In 1857 he planned an
around-the-world voyage on his clipper ship, carrying freight from port
to port. In addition to a crew including his son John, Silas Martin
agreed to take along his daughter, affectionately called 'Nance...'"
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