Mummification natural

Because cadavers comprise 60%-80% water their breakdown has been described as a competition between desiccation and decomposition (Auf-derheide 1981). The relationship between these processes is important because rapid desiccation can inhibit decomposition and result in the natural preservation of a cadaver for thousands of years, such as the natural mummies observed in Egypt (Ruffer 1921) and Peru (Allison 1979). Sledzik and Micozzi (1997) distinguished three types of mummification natural, intentional, and artificial. Dryness, heat, or absence of air may cause natural mummification. Intentional mummification is the result of exploitation or enhancement of natural mummification processes. Artificial mummification may be the result of evisceration, fire, or smoke curing and the application of embalming substances. 

One of the natural forms of preservation of dead remains is mummification a mummy is simply the body of a dead animal whose tissues have been diage-netically altered but whose morphology and structure have been preserved. Although the term mummification is generally used in relation to the purposeful preservation of dead humans and animals, it actually has a wider meaning - it also refers to the natural preservation of dead corpses (see Fig. 81). 

Nevertheless, there are some vegetable oils that have a very specific composition. For example, castor oil consists of large amounts (83 89%) of 12-hydroxy-(Z)-9-octadecenoic acid (ricinoleic acid) which is not found in other natural lipids [21]. Ricinoleic acid produces a very characteristic oxidation product, 9,12-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid [43], and both of these compounds can be considered as specific biomarkers for castor oil and have been used to assess its presence in ceramic lamps [43] and mummification balms [23]. 

Bitumen, asphalt, and other fossil organic materials such as coal, lignite and peat are found as natural deposits and have practically always been used in arts and handicrafts. Bitumen and asphalt were used in medicines and cosmetics, as pigments, as adhesives and in mummification balms in ancient Egypt [2,159,160]. 

Technological compounds and laboratory tools The technological use of natural products is as old as humanity, although mixtures of unknown conqjosition were mostly used before the advent of chemistry. Mummification in ancient Egypt is one such exan le. In contrast, that of the Phoenician Tyrian Purple was an advanced technology based on a practically pure substance. 

Dzierzykray-Rogalsky, T. (1986). Natural mummification in Egypt, in Science in Egyptology (A. R. David, Ed.). Manchester, UK Manchester University Press, 101-112. 

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