by 29lab 
In a creepy discovery published just in time for Halloween (or, alternatively, Children’s Week…), a collaboration of German scientists have performed a ‘virtual autopsy’ on a mummified toddler’s body, found in a 17th century Austrian crypt.
Buried in a wooden coffin that was slightly too small and deformed the skull, the young child’s body appeared to be both obese and malnourished. Researchers say the findings might provide a rare insight into historical Austrian aristocratic society.
By using CT scanning, scientists were able to perform a ‘virtual autopsy’ on the mummy which was naturally mummified in the conditions of the crypt. Well-preserved soft tissue showed the child was a boy, overweight for his age, and radiocarbon dating suggests a date of death between 1550 and 1635 CE.
Computerised Tomography (CT) 3D reconstruction of the mummy’s head, showing deformation of the skull bones. Credit: Andreas et al. (2022)
By using CT scanning, scientists were able to perform a ‘virtual autopsy’ on the mummy which was naturally mummified in the conditions of the crypt. Well-preserved soft tissue showed the child was a boy, overweight for his age, and radiocarbon dating suggests a date of death between 1550 and 1635 CE.
Detail of the mummy’s face shrouded in the silk hood. Credit: Andreas et al. (2022)
By examining the formation and length of the body’s bones, plus evidence of tooth eruption, the researchers were able to estimate that the child was about one year old when he died. The bones also showed that despite being well-fed, the boy was malnourished, with his malformed ribs displaying signs of rachitic rosary. This condition presents in a pattern of prominent bony knobs at points where the rib joins cartilage and results from diseases associated with specific vitamin deficiencies such as rickets (vitamin D) and scurvy (vitamin C).
