CT Scans Unravel Mysteries of Field Museum’s Mummies: (like you haven't seen them before)

One of the Field Museum’s mummies is a 40-year-old woman who had lower back pain. A second was a teenager who may have jumped to his death. Another mummy has no torso.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5c11517967e6.jpg[/atsimg]
The Field Museum began scanning Ancient Mummies and Artifacts using a portable scanning system provided by Genesis Medical Imaging Inc. This is scan of Egyptian mummy captured attention of many during Media event at Field Museum

“It was a bit of a shocker” learning that within the sarcophagus was a skull and legs but nothing to join them, said J.P. Brown, associate conservator for the museum’s department of anthropology. We thought we’d broken the scanner,” he said. The torso may have gone missing during a grave robbery. The most surprising discovery so far was the torso-less mummy, Brown said.

The coffins can’t be opened without damaging them, and standard X-rays were flat, distorted and unable to capture objects beneath other objects. A CT scan, in three dimensions, allows researchers an unparalleled look at what lies within the ornate coffins, such as the 3,000-year-old cedar one lying on the CT scan bed Monday.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5790e5d8bcca.jpg[/atsimg]

The CT scans have helped determine sex, age and cause of death of the mummies. They also provided details about mummification techniques and burial objects, such as a goddess figurine and small offering pot found within a Peruvian mummy’s coffin, Brown said.

Source: archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7cc0560ead82.jpg[/atsimg]

Now COME ON!!! Can we not agree that this last picture shows something ODD (like the SKULL). It just doesn't look like us Human. Anyone!

These scans and results should prove to be very interesting. Very interesting. It will be awesome to corelate the info with the South and Central American mummies and see what is happening there.

Man I wish I would have taken a diffent major in college. To be doing this stuff. Awesome.

Some more stuff I found on the topic:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3b9033002e44.jpg[/atsimg]
Bakt Hor Nekht, an ancient Egyptian mummy dating from between 1070 and 712 B.C., undergoes a CT scan so that scientists can uncover more about her life and death. Egyptians believed that it was very important for the soul to recognize the face after death.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e7832acd8b07.jpg[/atsimg]
CAT Scan of the Mummy of Nesi-Amun, from the Catalogue of: “The Art of Medicine in Ancient Egypt”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

No torso? Now that's strange.

This is pretty fascinating, I can't wait to see more images of what they find during the scans. Star and flag for you!

Originally posted by anon72
Now COME ON!!! Can we not agree that this last picture shows something ODD (like the SKULL). It just doesn't look like us Human. Anyone!

S & F

I'm glad someone else noticed how many of the Egyptian Royals appear to have misshapen and or elongated skulls.


[align=center]Tutankhamun [king Tut] on top and his
father [Akhenaten] below [/align]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/59c5f4149767.jpg[/atsimg]
CT scans suggest that the "heretical" pharaoh was Tutankhamun's father

Posted on: July 12, 2007 7:05 PM Like Tutankhamun, the mummy was found to have an elongated skull due to a congenital condition dolichocephaly, in which abnormally early fusion of the bones of the skull during development restricts the width of the head. And, also like Tutankhamun, the mummy was found to have cleft palate, impacted wisdom teeth and slight scoliosis - or abnormal curvature - of the spine. It is therefore probable that the individual had a genetic link with Tutankhamun.

Sculpture of one of Akhenatens
six daughters

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9b52203b99e2.jpg[/atsimg]

Sculpture of Akhenaten as a Youth

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5b7e36f0e9ad.jpg[/atsimg]

Akhenaten as Pharaoh

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fbb2ce2c131b.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by SLAYER69


Weren't Atlanteans the same way or similar?
Anyways yeah I thought majority of people have agreed to the fact that an ancient race from elsewhere bred with the Egyptians...


we are coming to the common point where science meets religion.

reply to post by SLAYER69



Wait, Stop, WHOA!!!

What the .... are those? CT scans from Mummies?

And the statues... MORE please. From Egypt?

Learn something new everyday. Awesome pics.

Do you think that they were maybe "artistic flare" (other than those dam scans)

reply to post by SLAYER69
I always just thought those statues were stylized rather than actually representing the subject. Huh, interesting, I wonder if they bound their heads to make them elongate or if there was something different going on?

Aah, spoke too soon. Now I've read the article and see that the cause of the elongated narrow head was dolichocephaly.

Originally posted by anon72
Do you think that they were maybe "artistic flare" (other than those dam scans)

All of his family showed signs [To varying degrees] of weird head/skulls.
Yeah sure "Artistic flare" sure why not. But the CT scans AND the mummies are telling another story.

So what do you think?

reply to post by SLAYER69

I'm glad someone else noticed how many of the Egyptian Royals appear to have misshapen and or elongated skulls.

Isn't this because the Egyptian Royals married each other, e.g. brothers and sisters? This could cause the genetic problems seen. Isn't it ironic that Akhenaten is now famous, being the father of Tutankhamun (King Tut). During Akhenaten's life he tried to convert Egypt to the first monotheistic religion. This occurred about 100 years before Moses when he too came up with the idea of one monotheistic God, coincidence? Anyway, the priests got angry and defaced many sculptures and tried to erase Akhenaten from the history books. There was a flourishing of the arts and "liberal" thinking during this Amarna period, kind of like the first hippies

An example of naturalistic Amarna art:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/938155a0b060.jpg[/atsimg]

There is no need to physically unwrap these mummies anymore since the CT scans are pretty impressive.The only reason to open them could be to take DNA samples for genealogy studies. I think the missing torso may be grave robbers since jewels were often placed in the mummy wrappings.

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


Not to get too far off topic but...

As I explained when I participated on ATS live a few weeks back. There may be a slightly different truth/story behind the Hebrews exodus out of Egypt than what we are taught/aware of. People don't actually believe that the similarities between "Moses and various Thutmoses" are simply a coincidence do they?

Remember, there were a whole line of "Semitic sounding" names of Pharaohs slightly before that period in Egyptian history

But of course the Hebrews wrote about it as they saw fit [The Victims]. The Egyptians play it down as being trivial [Hardly mention it if at all] The victors or the survivors write history.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I don't know. I personally never believed the whole "tied boards to their heads to shape their skulls" theory.

I have to say, I don't believe they were "alien/UFO types"- humanoid... but more intelligent that us in many ways-maybe not so in others.

I think they are the ones who built the Giza Pyramids. Maybe the last stand of a race etc.

You got me thinking on this one.

Originally posted by anon72
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

I don't know. I personally never believed the whole "tied boards to their heads to shape their skulls" theory.

Makes sense to me...creating an identifiable elite, like foot binding in China. You have to admit that folks go to a lot of extremes to stand out...even today - body modification and such.
Edit to add a wiki link on the subject...one of many such discussions. en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by Nicolas Flamel

 

Not to get too far off topic but...

As I explained when I participated on ATS live a few weeks back. There may be a slightly different truth/story behind the Hebrews exodus out of Egypt than what we are taught/aware of. People don't actually believe that the similarities between "Moses and various Thutmoses" are simply a coincidence do they?

Remember, there were a whole line of "Semitic sounding" names of Pharaohs slightly before that period in Egyptian history

But of course the Hebrews wrote about it as they saw fit [The Victims]. The Egyptians play it down as being trivial [Hardly mention it if at all] The victors or the survivors write history.

edit on 15-7-2011 by SLAYER69 because: (no reason given)

It was Joseph's lineage Slayer... the 13th tribe.

Those scans never cease to remind me of the skulls found in Peru!

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


True, True...

But do we have any physical evidence of the Egyptian elites doing it? I've never seen or read about any real evidence that indicates they did. It would do this topic an injustice if we just go on the assumption that the writer of the Wiki article in question is well informed or as is often the case with wiki, they could simply be posting their assumptive opinion.

Cranial deformation was "probably" performed to signify group affiliation, or to demonstrate social status. This "may have" played a key role in Egyptian and Mayan societies. Queen Nefertiti is often depicted with what "may be" an elongated skull, as is King Tutankhamen. It "could be" aimed at creating a skull shape which is aesthetically more pleasing or associated with desirable attributes. .

There doesn't seem to be any indication that the Pharaoh Tutankhamen nor his father Akhenaten and extended family for that matter were involved with head binding. Some Egyptologists involved however believe it to be the result of a genetic trait.

reply to post by SLAYER69


To recap:

Like Tutankhamun, the mummy was found to have an elongated skull due to a congenital condition dolichocephaly, in which abnormally early fusion of the bones of the skull during development restricts the width of the head.

So... one is left to ponder how this genetic defect made it to Peru... sounds like a challenge you'd qualify for Slayer

Originally posted by SLAYER69People don't actually believe that the similarities between "Moses and various Thutmoses" are simply a coincidence do they?

Well, they do if they read the Bible and Egyptian histories (which gives the royal lineages, wives, and offspring for multiple generations. And the Biblical genealogies are very meticulous, too.)

Anyway, back on topic... err.. I'm somewhat surprised at the reaction in this thread. I've seen a lot of real human skeletons in my time (handled some of them, too) and there's really nothing odd in those scans. Interesting, yes. Fascinating details, yes. Stories told in bone, yes. Outrageously alien -- no. Ahkenaton's skull is no longer than this man's skull: www.sacred-texts.com...

I wonder if the reaction is due to people only seeing drawings in textbooks and assuming that every single skeleton has those proportions.

And yes, the Armana art is highly stylized. We know, because we have the skeletons of some of these people and it's obvious from the bone that they didn't look exactly as they're depicted.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Head binding was common back then.

Intentional head molding producing extreme cranial deformations was once commonly practised in a number of cultures widely separated geographically and chronologically, and so was probably independently invented more than once. It still occurs today in a few groups, like the Vanuatu. Early examples of intentional human cranial deformation predate written history and date back to 45,000 BC in Neanderthal skulls, and to the Proto-Neolithic Homo sapiens component (12th millennium BC) from Shanidar Cave in Iraq.[1][2] It occurred among Neolithic peoples in SW Asia.[3] Skulls from the Andean Paracas culture. The earliest written record of cranial deformation dates to 400 BC in Hippocrates' description of the Macrocephali or Long-heads, who were named for their practice of cranial modification.[4] The practice was also known among the Australian Aborigines, Maya, and certain tribes of North American natives, most notably the Chinookan tribes of the Northwest and the Choctaw of the Southeast. In the Old World, Huns and Alans[5] are also known to have practised similar cranial deformation. In Late Antiquity (AD 300-600), the East Germanic tribes who were ruled by the Huns, adopted this custom (Gepids, Ostrogoths, Heruli, Rugii and Burgundians). In western Germanic tribes, artificial skull deformations have rarely been found.[6] The Native American group known as the Flathead did not in fact practise head flattening, but were named as such in contrast to other Salishan people who used skull modification to make the head appear rounder.[7] However, other tribes, including the Choctaw,[8] Chehalis, and Nooksack Indians, did practise head flattening by strapping the infant's head to a cradleboard. Friedrich Ratzel in The History of Mankind[9] reported in 1896 that deformation of the skull, both by flattening it behind and elongating it towards the vertex, was found in isolated instances in Tahiti, Samoa, Hawaii, and the Paumotu group and occurring most frequently on Mallicollo in the New Hebrides, where the skull was squeezed extraordinarily flat.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by anon72
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7cc0560ead82.jpg[/atsimg]

Now COME ON!!! Can we not agree that this last picture shows something ODD (like the SKULL). It just doesn't look like us Human. Anyone!

Let's see... I see a slice from a CT scan which isn't showing the full body. The face has fallen forward (perhaps from being stored upright) onto what would have been the chest. The relatively straight forehead and thinner bones show that this is the skull of a female. The incomplete fusing at the top of the skull and the size of the teeth indicates she was not fully adult. It's hard to tell without other scans, but she might be as young as 10 years old.

Now, that's what I can see (but I'm biased because I was a teaching assistant in human anatomy labs at the university.) What is it that you see that's so strange?

This is an example of an infant's skull -- the kind of standard drawing we see all the time:
visual.merriam-webster.com...

NOTE: The following collection of links ALSO includes fetal skulls (replicas) as well as replicas of skulls of some children. This material may be disturbing to some.

Here's a few of the standard replicas that we see in anatomy labs
theevolutionstore.com...

...and more here. BoneClones has interesting material.
www.boneclones.com...

Anyone who learned human anatomy before the 1980's was exposed to collections of human remains (real skulls, real skeletons, real body parts.) That's the experience I'm using when I say I don't see anything very odd and wonder what you think is strange about the scan.

Originally posted by Heyyo_yoyo
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

To recap:

Like Tutankhamun, the mummy was found to have an elongated skull due to a congenital condition dolichocephaly, in which abnormally early fusion of the bones of the skull during development restricts the width of the head.

So... one is left to ponder how this genetic defect made it to Peru... sounds like a challenge you'd qualify for Slayer

Common among all races. I didn't post a picture of some of the Australian Aborigines with this genetic modification -- there's plenty of examples of it around the world. Take a look at "figure 3" on this page: carnby.altervista.org...

Max von Sydow is a classic dolichocephalic (just stare at him for a bit in "Seventh Seal"): en.wikipedia.org...

Heck, my own head is dolichocephalic. I imagine this would be true of a good number of readers of this board.

Human anatomy is interesting and varies wildly. I'm not sure what you qualify as "unusual."

reply to post by Heyyo_yoyo




Already in the works.

Byrd and the others have just provided some great additional information which will now be included and edited in.

Man, another great thread that MAKES one think.

Byrd. Thank you, as always, for your input.

But, I have to tell you. I would love to see a comparison between the different cultures modified skulls around the world.

I just can't believe they would do this to their off-spring-form their skulls. I guess people in power will do anything to stay in power-including making thier kids look odd also.

Bryd. Just to make sure. You are saying that all these oblong head shots are normal human skulls that were modify-somehow? No skull diffenent in the make up of them, no the shape?

When was the first one noted? What dynasty? From the beginning? Thanks in advance.

On, any thought that maybe the people of those times were trying to emulate something/somebody they encountered or were in control of?