Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures

429 Pages·1998·63.04 MB·English

by  Thomas Aidan Cockburn

To look upon a mummy is to come face to face with our past. This book pre
sents the story of mummification as a practice worldwide. Mummies have
been found on every continent, some deliberately preserved as with the ancient
Egyptians using a variety of complex techniques, others accidentally by dry
baking heat, intense cold and ice, or by tanning in peat bogs. By examining
these preserved humans, we can get profound insights into the lives, health,
culture and deaths ofindividuals and populations long gone. The first edition
of this book was acclaimed as a classic. This readable new edition builds on
these foundations, investigating the fantastic new findings in South America,
Europe and the Far East. It will be a 'must-have' volume for anyone working in
paleo pathology and a fascinating read for all those interested in anthropology,
archaeology, and the history ofm edicine.

Mummies,
Disease &
Ancient Cultures

Mummies,
Disease &
Ancient Cultures
SECOND EDITION
EDITED BY
AIDAN COCKBURN,
EVE COCKBURN
AND THEODORE A. REYMAN
UCAMBRIDGE
. ::; UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/978052l58060l
© Cambridge University Press 1998
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1980
Abridged paperback edition 1983
Reprinted 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992
Second edition published 1998
Reprinted 2003, 2006
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Mummies, disease, and ancient cultures I edited by Aidan, Eve
Cockburn, and Theodore A. Reyman.
p. cm.
Includes Index.
ISBN 0 521 580609 (hardback).
ISBN 0 521 58954 1 (paperback)
1. Mummies. 2. Paleopathology. I. Cockburn, Aidan.
II. Cockburn, Eve. III. Reyman, Theodore A. (Theodore Allen), 1931-.
GN293.M85 1998
616'.00932-dc21 97-26894 CIP
ISBN 978-0-521-58060-1 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-58954-3 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2008
To Aidan, who started it all

Contents
Listofcontributors xiii
AidanCockburn xv
DONALD ORTNER
Prefacetothej1rstedition xvii
Prefacetothesecondedition xix
Introduction 1
AIDAN COCKBURN
PART I MummiesofEgypt
I MummiesofancientEgypt 15
WILLIAM H. PECK
2 DiseaseinancientEgypt 38
A. T. SANDISON
AND EDMUND TAPP
3 DentalhealthinancientEgypt 59
JAMES E. HARRIS, PAUL V. PONITZ
AND BRIAN K. INGALLS
Aclassicmummy:PUMII 69
4
AIDAN COCKBURN, ROBIN A. BARRACO,
WILLIAM H. PECK
AND THEODORE A. REYMAN
5 ROMI:mummificationforthecommon
people 91
NICHOLAS B. MILLET,
GERALD D. HART, THEODORE A. REYMAN,
MICHAEL R. ZIMMERMAN
AND PETER K. LEWIN
ix