Monday, August 6, 2018

Taylor
July 31st, 2018

Hi! My name is Taylor Pitzer. I am going to be a senior at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I am studying Forensic Science and Entomology with minors in Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology. With this, I hope to be a crime scene investigator. 

Today was a lot of fun! First we had lectures by Alessandra over paleopathology which is the study of old diseases that people would have had. We then went over trauma which is super interesting to me to see how one can tell what happened and if it was before or after death. 


After lecture we all went down to the crypt to dive right in to observing the mummies. We got seven adults and two sub adults to look at. The top two stores had dust on the top glass which we collected to look at later when back in Nebraska. The goal is to see if the dust is from inside the crypt or getting in from the outside.

One of the mummies
With the mummies, in pairs, we each examined the sex and age estimations of each mummy. Then as a duo we investigated different paleopathologies and made observations of clothing, soft tissue, insect activity, and of mold was present at all.

After the crypt we had a small break and then headed to a welcoming ceremony. At this ceremony the group met a philanthropist that was helping restore frescoes in the churches. There was also a meeting where people could ask questions and learn about what we are doing here and what we hope to accomplish. Afterwards Carmelina made a feast for dinner! All the people at the meeting stayed and ate with us. There were over ten things to try and all very authentic meals, nice was nice to try. Overall it was a wonderful day learning about the town more and the history of it with the crypt and ceremony. 
The opening ceremony

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