Application of clinical imaging and 3D printing to the identification of anomalies in an ancient Egyptian animal mummy

Abstract

Non-destructive assessment of wrapped mummified animal remains from ancient Egypt using imaging techniques is the most ethically viable manner by which to investigate bundle contents. Bundles studied to date revealed complete and incomplete animal skeletons, multiple individuals (or parts thereof) wrapped together in one bundle, non-skeletal material, organic matter and anomalies of unknown origin. The identification of animal species using imaging alone can be fraught with difficulty, especially in cases in which the skeleton is incomplete and diagnostic elements are lost or significantly damaged. This paper describes the radiographic investigation of a mummy bundle wrapped in the form of a canid, a species closely associated with ancient Egyptian embalming deities. Computed tomography (CT) was performed, and the bundle contents were computer modelled, leading to the production of a laser sintered 3D replica. Imaging identified three skeletal fragments carefully positioned to act as structural support for the bundle; however, radiographic data proved inadequate to enable definitive identification of these elements. 3D printing enabled direct comparison with skeletal reference collections and confirmed that the bones were of human origin. This paper demonstrates that imaging of wrapped animal mummy bundles and 3D printing of unidentified elements or non-skeletal anomalies will assist in their accurate identification in a non-destructive manner.

Internal 3D Printing of Intricate Structures

“…In particular, in the first work, a removable copy of a Gallic weight illustrates how this technique allowed to better understand the internal structure of an artefact. This is also the case in the work of McKnight et al [5] where a bones assembly from an animal mummy has been reconstituted for scientific analysis and public exhibition purpose. In both [6] and [2], a 3D print of the original shape of the archaeological material composed of an aggregate of several objects is proposed.…”

Open-source digital technologies for low-cost monitoring of historical constructions

“…In fact, for some products, the manufacturing process may be totally tailor-made by the end-user and thus the need of industrial standard processes might vanish [31]. From the cultural heritage point of view, few academic researches involving DMF technologies have been recently published only for historical artefacts [32][33][34].…”

Evaluation of Touchable 3D‐Printed Replicas in Museums

“…These touchable 3D printed replicas are already being used by museums for research (McKnight et al. ), repatriation (Cronin ), restoration (Laycock et al. ) and in exhibitions (Olson et al.…”