Archaeologists have discovered that a well-preserved mummy seems to have been air-dried by stuffing the rectum with wood chips, twigs, fabric and zinc chloride.
The 280-year-old corpse belonged to an Austrian priest and is the first example archaeologists have found of this bizarre – and apparently successful – mummification method.
“The unusually well-preserved mummy in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein is the corpse of a local parish vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746,” said Prof Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at Ludwig Maximilians University, Germany, and the first author of the Frontiers in Medicine study.
“Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying.”
The mummy’s upper body had remained almost completely intact, whereas his head and lower body showed considerable decay.
Nerlich and an international team of researchers undertook extensive analyses of the mummy, including computed tomography scans (where X-rays and a computer build detailed images of the body), radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis.
These analyses confirmed Sidler’s long-rumoured identity, indicating he died between 1734 and 1780, aged 35 to 45, as well as clues about his diet, lifestyle and health – all of which match records or provide extra information about the priest’s life.
The scientists also took the embalming materials out of Sidler’s body. This revealed that his abdominal and pelvic cavity had been filled, via the rectum, with fir and spruce chips, twigs, and bits of fabric made from linen, hemp and flax.
These materials would have been easily available in the small Austrian village where Sidler lived – and the scientists found silks and embroidered linen inside Sidler too. Altogether, this stuffing seems to have absorbed much of his abdominal fluid.
Toxicological analysis showed that zinc chloride – a chemical with a strong drying effect – had been used inside the body, helping to preserve it.
Plus, the scientists found one small glass bead, which they believe might have got lost inside Sidler during the embalming process.
Nerlich said that archaeologists don’t know how widespread rectal embalming was. It is possible that other rectally mummified bodies previously went under the radar because they had been less well preserved.
It is also unclear why Sidler was embalmed in this way, but Nerlich said: “We have some written evidence that cadavers were ‘prepared’ for transport or elongated laying-out of the dead – although no report provides any precise description.
“Possibly, the vicar was planned for transportation to his home abbey, which might have failed for unknown reasons.”
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