#mummification

#mummification

How Did a Dinosaur Become a Mummy?Fossilization happens when minerals gradually replace bone in an animal that is buried underground. Mummification happens when a body's soft tissue dries completely out and is preserved by desiccation. A few mummified remains of dinosaurs have been found with evidence that the dead animal was quickly buried in dry conditions, such as in an avalanche. But an Edmontosaurus found in South Dakota in 1999 defied all explanation. The 40-foot-long reptile died 67 million years ago, but its bones were found covered by fossilized skin! That could have only happened if the sky were dried out, as in mummification, before it was fossilized. But this dinosaur died in wet conditions, and was not immediately buried. In fact, there is evidence that it laid on the earth's surface long enough for other animals to take a few bites out of him. How could its skin have have been preserved at all?A new theory about the Edmontosaurus nicknamed Dakota was published this week. Scientists now believe that scavengers helped the drying process. By tearing the skin open, they allowed for the blood, gasses, body fluids, and internal organs to ooze out before putrefaction, which sped up the ability of the skin to dry out. The precise sequence of events that led to Dakota turning to just skin and bones before being buried and fossilized has to be a pretty rare event, but one that gave us dinosaur skin to study 67 million years later.(Image credit: Natee Puttapipat)#dinosaur #fossil #mummification #desiccation #mummy

The Oldest Mummy in the WorldWe think of mummies as being Egyptian, because the ancient Egyptians raised mummification to an art beginning about 4500 years ago. But the deliberate drying of a dead body to keep it from decomposing is much older. Mummification took place in Chile's Atacama Desert, where the conditions are very dry, some 7,000 years ago. But now we have evidence of mummification in Europe as far back as 8,000 years ago. In the 1960s, archaeologists uncovered a Mesolithic burial site in Portugal, and discovered dozens of bodies. Portuguese archaeologist Manuel Farinha dos Santos was part of that excavation, and took pictures of the bodies. His undeveloped film was only discovered after his death in 2001. A study of the resulting photographs reveal that one body had been treated after death in a way that would dry the body out. The limb joints were flexed beyond what a living body can do, but the bones were not separated. The body was dried, but the condition of the ground around it indicated that no shrinkage had occurred after burial. Scientists hypothesize that this body may have been dried in order to more easily transport it from a distance to be buried at this particular site. There is evidence that other bodies from the same burial site may have been mummified.Mummies in Europe are rare because of the humidity. Read the process this one went through to become completely dried at Live Science. -via Strange Company(Image credit: Peyroteo-Stjerna et al/European Journal of Archaeology)#mummy #mummification #Portugal