1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910736005203321

Titolo

The Handbook of Mummy Studies [[electronic resource] ] : New Frontiers in Scientific and Cultural Perspectives  / / edited by Dong Hoon Shin, Raffaella Bianucci

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Singapore : , : Springer Singapore : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2020

ISBN

981-15-1614-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (636 p.)

Disciplina

599.9

Soggetti

Physical anthropology

History, Ancient

Anatomy

Archaeology

Biotechnology

Biological and Physical Anthropology

Ancient History

Animal Anatomy / Morphology / Histology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Part 1: Mummy Studies in General -- Part 2: Techniques and Current Trends in Mummy Studies -- Part 3: Mummies of the World -- Part 4: Museology of Mummies.

Sommario/riassunto

Owing to their unique state of preservation, mummies provide us with significant historical and scientific knowledge of mankind’s past. This handbook, written by prominent international experts in mummy studies, offers readers a comprehensive guide to new understandings of the field’s most recent trends and developments. It provides invaluable information on the health states and pathologies of historic populations and civilizations, as well as their socio-cultural and religious characteristics. Addressing the developments in mummy studies that have taken place over the past two decades ­– which have been neglected for as long a time – the authors excavate the ground-breaking research that has transformed scientific and cultural knowledge of our ancient predecessors. The handbook investigates the



many new biotechnological tools that are routinely applied in mummy studies, ranging from morphological inspection and endoscopy to minimally invasive radiological techniques that are used to assess states of preservation. It also looks at the paleoparasitological and pathological approaches that have been employed to reconstruct the lifestyles and pathologic conditions of ancient populations, and considers the techniques that have been applied to enhance biomedical knowledge, such as craniofacial reconstruction, chemical analysis, stable isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis. This interdisciplinary handbook will appeal to academics in historical, anthropological, archaeological and biological sciences, and will serve as an indispensable companion to researchers and students interested in worldwide mummy studies.