Multidisciplinary investigation of two Egyptian child mummies curated at the University of Tartu Art Museum, Estonia (Late/Graeco-Roman Periods)

2020/01/16 by Ester Oras, Jaanika Anderson, Mari Tõrv +16 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Ancient history #Archaeology #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Geography #German #History #Osteology #Paleoanthropology #Paleopathology #Paleopathology and ancient diseases

paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227446

openalex publication_date 2020/01/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Two ancient Egyptian child mummies at the University of Tartu Art Museum (Estonia) were, according to museum records, brought to Estonia by the young Baltic-German scholar Otto Friedrich von Richter, who had travelled in Egypt during the early 19th century. Although some studies of the mummies were conducted, a thorough investigation has never been made. Thus, an interdisciplinary team of experts studied the remains using the most recent analytical methods in order to provide an exhaustive analysis of the remains. The bodies were submitted for osteological and archaeothanatological study, radiological investigation, AMS radiocarbon dating, chemical and textile analyses, 3D modelling, entomological as well as aDNA investigation. Here we synthesize the results of one of the most extensive multidisciplinary analyses of ancient Egyptian child mummies, adding significantly to our knowledge of such examples of ancient funerary practices.

Citations

• Insect Remains from the Collections in the Egyptian Museum of Turin
• IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP
• Methods for Summarizing Radiocarbon Datasets
• Near Eastern Neolithic genetic input in a small oasis of the Egyptian Western Desert
• Mitochondrial DNA Signals of Late Glacial Recolonization of Europe from Near Eastern Refugia
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Discussions

• Older studies include those by Raili Allmäe on the stature of children (see Morrone's artcle for the long list of references), and more obscure studies consider the Egyptian child #mummies curated at [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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