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Actions	Mummified and injected child Remove from selection Add to selection Object numberED.CS.2010.4 TitleMummified and injected child DescriptionThis preparation is described as being a mummified child. He has been dissected, removing most of the viscera. On the torso the dorsal skin and intercostal musculature is present, as well as the kidney. Many of the limb muscles are still in place, and on the head the nose and the ears are present. These soft tissue structures have been preserved by immersion in alcohol, followed by dehydration and then varnishing. The arteries have been injected with a red, wax-based subtance. There has been mass spectometry of the wax, though we do not have the report of its full composition. The body is that of a male child, estimated to be between 6 and 8 years old from teeth and growth centre analysis. The long bones are shorter than would be expected in this age range, and there are harris lines on the distal tibia and fibula indicating something interrupting growth. As stable isotope analysis of the nitrogen in the bone indicates a protein rich diet, this suggests that there was illness. A section of the right femur 23mm long has been removed for stable isotope analysis, and this has been replaced with an area of modelled white wax. Carbon dating was inconclusive at dating the body, but it is guessed to have been prepared in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The protein-rish diet suggests this was not someone from a workhouse, suggesting that this pre-dates the 1832 anatomy act. The body was given to Prof. Sue Black at CAHID, University of Dundee by a colleague. It was featured in the BBC2 programme History Cold Case in May 2010 in an epidode entitled 'Mummified Child'. Object nameSKELETON Object categoryAnatomical, specimen TechniqueMummification Dimensions Specimen Length: 94 cm Width: 39 cm Depth: 19 cm Box Height: 25 cm Width: 101 cm Depth: 45 cm

Object numberED.CS.2010.4

TitleMummified and injected child

DescriptionThis preparation is described as being a mummified child. He has been dissected, removing most of the viscera. On the torso the dorsal skin and intercostal musculature is present, as well as the kidney. Many of the limb muscles are still in place, and on the head the nose and the ears are present. These soft tissue structures have been preserved by immersion in alcohol, followed by dehydration and then varnishing. The arteries have been injected with a red, wax-based subtance. There has been mass spectometry of the wax, though we do not have the report of its full composition. The body is that of a male child, estimated to be between 6 and 8 years old from teeth and growth centre analysis. The long bones are shorter than would be expected in this age range, and there are harris lines on the distal tibia and fibula indicating something interrupting growth. As stable isotope analysis of the nitrogen in the bone indicates a protein rich diet, this suggests that there was illness. A section of the right femur 23mm long has been removed for stable isotope analysis, and this has been replaced with an area of modelled white wax. Carbon dating was inconclusive at dating the body, but it is guessed to have been prepared in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The protein-rish diet suggests this was not someone from a workhouse, suggesting that this pre-dates the 1832 anatomy act. The body was given to Prof. Sue Black at CAHID, University of Dundee by a colleague. It was featured in the BBC2 programme History Cold Case in May 2010 in an epidode entitled 'Mummified Child'.

Object nameSKELETON

Object categoryAnatomical, specimen

TechniqueMummification

Dimensions

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