{"id":15672,"date":"2016-03-08T14:59:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T19:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=15672"},"modified":"2016-12-20T11:56:10","modified_gmt":"2016-12-20T16:56:10","slug":"artifact-under-wraps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/artifact-under-wraps\/","title":{"rendered":"Artifact: Under Wraps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Artifacts\"<\/p>\n

\n
Egyptian mummies reveal secrets from the past to inspire future scientists.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/article>\n

By Eric Michael, ’96<\/em><\/p>\n

When students in the Mummies, Life After Death course are invited to touch and smell samples of preserved human skin, bone, hair and other remains dating back more than 2,000 years, anthropology lecturer\u00a0Lana Williams, Ph.D., \u201999<\/a>, says the most common reaction is \u201cEww.\u201d But beyond the initial revulsion comes a deeper appreciation for the lessons the samples provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the thing about using [the remains] in the curriculum \u2026 mummies aren\u2019t just scientific things to be studied, they\u2019re also somebody\u2019s mom, dad or child. That\u2019s what makes it really human,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0UCF Anthropology Department\u2019s <\/a>collection of Roman period (100 b.c. to 400 a.d.) materials, which was donated by the late University of Minnesota professor Arthur Aufderheide, originated from the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt\u2019s Western Desert, where Williams and her faculty colleagues\u00a0Tosha Dupras, Ph.D.<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sandra Wheeler, Ph.D. \u201998<\/a>, have studied the ancient peoples\u2019 health, diet, environmental conditions, fertility rates and other factors.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Williams\u2019 students learn from the remains of mummified Egyptians:<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Skin\"<\/p>\n

Skin<\/strong>\u00a0Mummified skin is a result of preservation methods that included coating the body in botanical and mineral oils as well as honey, which acted as an insecticide and antifungal. \u201cWe think of a mummy as dried up, but they\u2019re really not,\u201d says Williams. \u201cOften the skin is still supple and pliable, like a tanned hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Vertebra\"<\/p>\n

Vertebrae<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 such as this one from the lower back \u2014 can show evidence of stress and trauma, providing insight on everything from an individual\u2019s occupation to quality of life. \u201cThis person was amazingly healthy and probably did not do any hard labor in their entire life,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Bitumen\"<\/p>\n

Bitumen\u00a0<\/strong>This naturally occurring tar, which Williams says was likely imported from the Dead Sea, was mixed with honey and myrrh and used as a coating to preserve the body and protect it from insects. \u201cIt smells like a wet parking lot on a Florida afternoon,\u201d says Williams. \u201cThat\u2019s mummy smell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Wrap\"<\/p>\n

Wrapping\u00a0<\/strong>Layers of linen material of varying weaves and textures were used to cover and protect the body. The quality of the material depended on the individual\u2019s wealth and status. \u201cThere were a lot of individuals who could afford their own shroud,\u201d says Williams, \u201cbut some were buried in repurposed cloth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Hair\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHair<\/strong>\u00a0is really cool,\u201d says Williams. \u201cIt holds a bunch of information, from the toxicity of your environment to nearly everything about your health.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0This sample from an approximately 35-year-old woman was dyed with henna and could have been styled using heated metal tubes like a primitive curling iron.<\/p>\n

\"Pegasus_Artifact_Femur\"<\/p>\n

Femur<\/strong>\u00a0Biological testing can reveal the presence (or lack) of key enzymes and other chemicals. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at not only diet and growth patterns in bones, but also for anything that the person was ingesting that would act like a natural antibiotic that we can actually see on the bone,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Egyptian mummies reveal secrets from the past to inspire future scientists. By Eric Michael, ’96 When students in the Mummies, Life After Death course are invited to touch and smell samples of preserved human skin, bone, hair and other remains dating back more than 2,000 years, anthropology lecturer\u00a0Lana Williams, Ph.D., \u201999, says the most common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,32,38,4,39,13,28,29],"tags":[331,2001,2352,2956,3402,3457,3473],"class_list":["post-15672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-anthropology","category-breaking-news","category-departments","category-faculty-news","category-news","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-artifacts","tag-lana-williams","tag-mummified-egyptians","tag-sandra-wheeler","tag-tosha-dupras","tag-ucf","tag-ucf-anthropology"],"yoast_head":"\nArtifact: Under Wraps - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/artifact-under-wraps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Artifact: Under Wraps - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Egyptian mummies reveal secrets from the past to inspire future scientists. By Eric Michael, ’96 When students in the Mummies, Life After Death course are invited to touch and smell samples of preserved human skin, bone, hair and other remains dating back more than 2,000 years, anthropology lecturer\u00a0Lana Williams, Ph.D., \u201999, says the most common […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/artifact-under-wraps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-08T19:59:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-20T16:56:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/03\/Artifacts-e1457467110643.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"444\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Judy Froehlich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Judy Froehlich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Judy Froehlich\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d0a56f308c46b7b3e18f52d6ef199e82\"},\"headline\":\"Artifact: Under Wraps\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-08T19:59:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-20T16:56:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":503,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/Artifacts-e1457467110643.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"artifacts\",\"Lana Williams\",\"mummified Egyptians\",\"Sandra Wheeler\",\"Tosha Dupras\",\"UCF\",\"UCF Anthropology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni News\",\"Anthropology\",\"COS News\",\"Departments & Schools\",\"Faculty News\",\"News\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/artifact-under-wraps\\\/\",\"name\":\"Artifact: Under Wraps - 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