Scientists Determine Identity of Centuries-Old, Well-Preserved Mummy

Researchers have determined the identity of a centuries-old mummy found in Austria, according to a study published in Frontiers in Medicine, and unearthed a previously unknown embalming method in the process.

Archaeologists have determined that the body belonged to a church vicar who lived in the community roughly 300 years ago. The mummy showed almost no signs of decay due to the embalming method, which saw the corpse stuffed with wooden chips, branches, twigs, and fabrics before being doused in zinc chloride. It’s the first time scientists have encountered such an embalming method.

“This extensive multidisciplinary approach not only confirmed the identity of the mummy, but also the reason for the good preservation of the dead body over a period of around 240 years in the Middle European climate,” the study authors wrote. “The evidence suggests that the preservation was performed to avoid the spread of infection by miasma. Possible later opening of the coffin or relocation of the human remains would have found a remarkably intact corpse and could easily result in miraculous beliefs by the local population.”

Related: Archaeologists Find Chilling Scene During Pompeii Excavation

Scientists found that the body showed significant decay on the lower half of its body but hardly any of the top half, which they believe is a result of the novel embalming method. “This type of preservation may have been much more widespread but unrecognized in cases where ongoing postmortal decay processes may have damaged the body wall so that the manipulations would not have been realized as they were,” lead author Andreas Nerlich said.

Through their detailed analyses of the body, scientists were ultimately able to positively identify to whom it belonged. “The unusually well-preserved mummy in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein is the corps of a local parish vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746,” Nerlich explained. “Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying.”

Andreas Nerlich/Frontiers in Medicine