Monday, August 6, 2018

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Amber

Ciao!  It’s Amber again, here to tell you about our day.  Today was a hot one, so we spent most of the day in the crypt.  Kyler Hirte and I are doing an experiment on humidity in the crypt.  We want to see if tourism affects decomposition rates on mummies so we have been monitoring the crypt every 24 hours and before and after people are in the crypt.  We set up hygrometers in four different areas.  One is near the entrance, another is at the far end on the alter, one is by the window where the coffins are located, and one is at the other end of the crypt.  So far, we are seeing significant changes.  Meanwhile, our professor, Dr. Karl Reinhard, and his teaching assistant, Ruth Grady, were using a forensic vacuum to test the air for fungal spores.


Checking humidity



Today, we continued analyzing the mummies’ biological profiles.  Then, we were each assigned two ossuaries, a container or box where skeletal remains are placed, to examine.  We learned how to differentiate males from females, approximate age at death, and how to identify paleopathologies, ancient diseases, just by looking at the bones and teeth.  Studying the mummies’ biographies allows us to learn about their past health, hygiene, and culture.  The pelvis and skull are most useful for morphological sexing.  When both are available, the accuracy rate is approximately 97%.  Long bones, teeth and DNA are also used to determine sex.  

The remains were moved to ossuaries after flooding damaged the mummies.  The crypt was cleaned and renovated.  I examined ossuary niche #16 and niche #2.  I discovered niche #16 had the remains of two individuals.  One was a subadult under the age of four according to the dentition, lack of fused bones and sutures.  The other bones belonged to an adult with osteoarthritis.  Niche #2 held the remains of a mature male with what appeared to be arthritis.  We saw many different and unique traits among the mummies we examined which gave us insight to how these individuals lived.  Their bones tell a story and we feel very privileged to be able to take a look and learn about each of them.  
Amber sampling the dust

We had a lecture from Dr. Dario Piombino-Mascali on Forensic Anthropology and Death, Decay and Reconstruction.  
Examining the remains
Now, for another granita!
Buona giornata

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