Arterial angiography of a “catacomb mummy” from Palermo, Sicily

Arterial angiography of a “catacomb mummy” from
Palermo, Sicily
S. Panzer1, A. Zink2, D. Piombino-Mascali1*
1
2
Trauma Center Murnau, Prof. Küntscher Strasse 8, 82418, Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany.
EURAC, Viale Druso 1, 39100, Bolzano, Italy.
1. Introduction
At the end of the 16th century the Capuchin
Catacombs in Palermo were excavated into the
rock beneath the Capuchin Convent as tombs
for the deceased friars (Farella, 1982; Piombino-Mascali et al., 2010). Reportedly, the first
mummified body was placed in the Catacombs
in 1599 and the last ones date to the 1880s
(Farella, 1982). During this period, lay benefactors of the order were also allowed to inter
their relatives inside the Catacombs. Later on,
permission was also granted to several ordinary citizens. A few coffins were even placed
there during the early 20th century at special
request (Piombino-Mascali, 2009). Most of the
“catacomb mummies” are known to be spontaneously mummified (Fornaciari and Capasso,
1996), while a number are reported to have
been arterially injected with specific chemicals
(Aufderheide, 2003; Piombino-Mascali, 2009;
Piombino-Mascali et al., 2010).
2. Material and methods
Within the framework of the “Sicily Mummy
Project”, we investigated an externally wellpreserved and completely clothed mummy of
an unknown adult male tentatively dated to
the mid- to late 19th century (Fig. 1). Anteroposterior (AP) and lateral radiographs were
undertaken with a mobile digital radiography
system (Dragon DR, CXDI-50-G, Canon/Sedecal)
inside the Catacombs. Composition of the AP
radiographs led to the illustrated whole-body
view.
3. Results
Radiographs revealed relatively homogeneous,
radio-dense material within the thoracic aorta
and the supra-aortal arteries, the left ventricle
and parts of the pulmonary veins, the abdomi-
Figure 1. Adult male mummy from Palermo. This anthropogenic mummy was dated to the 19th century based on
the clothing.
* Correspondence to: D. Piombino-Mascali
E-mail address: dario.piombino@eurac.edu
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Panzer et al. • Journal of Paleopathology 24: 25–27, 2014
nal aorta with its branches including the renal
arteries up to the periphery (Fig. 2), as well as
parts of the arteries of the upper and lower extremities. The liver was shrunken and slightly
hyper-dense. Both kidneys were preserved and
showed discrete hyper-dense parenchyma between the filled vessels. The right thigh showed
a horizontal cut of the soft tissue structures,
was thickened and revealed diffuse areas of
increased radio-density (Fig. 3). Additional findings included the presence of foreign bodies
in the orbits and the nasal and oral cavities
(Fig. 4). Both cerebral hemispheres were also
preserved as clearly shrunken and hyper-dense
structures, symmetrically next to the partially
visible falx.
4. Conclusion
Figure 3. Adult male mummy from Palermo. AP radiograph
of the pelvis shows arterial filling of the iliac and femoral
arteries. The right upper leg is markedly swollen and shows
a horizontal cut with surrounding inhomogeneous radiodense material. Dense items of clothing are also visible.
This mummy clearly illustrates the results of
arterial injection, which was used as a method
of anthropogenic mummification in Italy during
the mid- and late 19th and the early 20th century (Marinozzi and Fornaciari, 2005; Piombino-Mascali, 2009).
Obviously, the embalmer exposed the right
superficial femoral artery at the site of the visible cut after death for injection of the embalming fluid. We suggest that the embalming
fluid consisted of an arsenic solution that was
Figure 2. Adult male mummy from Palermo. AP radiograph
of the chest/abdomen shows arterial filling of the left heart
and the aorta with its branches by very radio-dense material. Note the filling of the arterial vessels of both kidneys
up to the periphery.
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Figure 4. Adult male mummy from Palermo. Lateral radiograph of the skull shows radio-dense foreign bodies in the
orbits, the nasal passage and the oral cavity. Preserved cerebral hemispheres are shrunken, very dense and dislocated dorsally. The cerebellum is also preserved. Parts of the
cervical arteries are filled with radio-dense material.
Panzer et al. • Journal of Paleopathology 24: 25–27, 2014
popular during this time, which additionally
contained mercury. The mercury contributed
to the radio-density because of its high atomic
number (= 80). The perfect distribution of the
embalming fluid, especially into the peripheral parts of the body, demonstrates the high
quality of the embalmer’s workmanship at the
time. The coincidental use of a radio-dense material employed during the embalming allowed
a whole-body arterial angiography of this 19th
century “catacomb mummy” to be visible in the
21st century.
Acknowledgments
The EURAC “Sicily Mummy Project” was partly
supported by the National Geographic Society
(Grant number: #ECO 38 1-08, awarded to Dr. Dario
Piombino-Mascali).
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