Diagnosis by consensus: A case study in the importance of interdisciplinary interpretation of mummified remains.

Objective: The goal of this study is to demonstrate the need for interdisciplinary consensus and inclusion of mummy radiology specialists in analyses of mummified remains. Materials: This study uses paleoimaging data for an ancient Egyptian mummy at the Museum of Human Anatomy “Filippo Civinini”. Methods: This study demonstrates the benefit of evaluation of mummified remains in a multi-disciplinary interpretive team. Results: The authors propose a diagnosis of DISH, additional signs of undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy, and lumbarisation of S1. Conclusions: The process of diagnosis by consensus is essential to the analysis of mummified remains, which are complexly altered through natural and anthropogenic processes in the millennia subsequent to the individual’s death. Significance: Mummy paleoimaging and paleopathology lacks a unifying set of standards. We present an example of the value to be found in the multi-disciplinary diagnosis by consensus approach. Limitations: We discuss numerous challenges to accurate and meaningful interpretation that radiography of mummified remains pose. Suggestions for Further Research: While the authors do not seek to impose any single set of standards, we do recommend a larger discussion on the topic of (culture-specific) standardisation in mummy paleoimaging and paleopathology. We further recommend the development of an international, multi-disciplinary panel of paleoimaging interpreters

Human mummification practices among the Ibaloy of Kabayan, North Luzon, the Philippines

The province of Benguet, situated in North Luzon, the Philippines, holds a large number of ancient mummified remains, mostly located within the municipality of Kabayan. Such bodies are mainly associated to the Ibaloy – one of the indigenous groups collectively known as Igorot – and are stored in natural rockshelters or caves carved into the stone, inside wooden coffins often obtained from hollowed pine tree segments. Recent inspections of some of these corpses, carried out in 2002 and 2012, indicated the nature of their mummification process as well as some details regarding their bioanthropological features. Although very little information was initially available on these bodies, the authors have gathered significant oral information on funerary rituals and attitudes towards the ancestors via interviews with the local elders, as well as data on the vegetal materials employed and the practice of tattooing. This paper is the first critical evaluation of these mummies and demonstrates the uniqueness and preciousness of this biocultural heritage now in danger