On VO, questions are often asked about the specifics of the work of historians and archaeologists, and it makes sense to start talking a little about this. Because it is often really quite difficult and unpleasant. For example, imagine that you are an archaeologist and are digging in the ground in the hot sun, and even in a narrow trench, and then your friend steps over it and … a trickle of earth wakes up on your sweaty back and, moreover, right under the elastic of your panties. This is very unpleasant, believe me. Even worse, when in the heat right in front of you you see a river nearby, but you know that you cannot swim in it, you can get sick with bilharziasis. In heavy rain, running to the camp from the excavated mound is also … completely unpleasant, especially if it rains with a thunderstorm, and there is not a bush around in the field.
The head of the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II.
But even if you have unearthed something interesting, it does not mean that the view of the find will be presentable. For example, it may well be a half-rotten skull, which is disgusting to take in your hands, and not something else to do with it. However, it is the ancient bones and skulls of people of past eras that are of great interest to science. Take Egyptian civilization, for example. Many secrets are kept by its mastabas and pyramids; the life of the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley is also far from being fully understood. And it is the mummies of the ancient Egyptians that help to discover such facts that change many well-established theories.
The most difficult task is to study the DNA of Egyptian mummies, since the human genome is destroyed in the heat from time to time. But, fortunately, recently it was still possible to find a group of mummies with sufficient preservation of the genetic material to work on compiling the complete genome of the ancient Egyptians.
In particular, luck smiled at the specialists from the University of Tübingen in Germany. Thus, the scientist Karsten Push, based on the results of an experiment on sequencing (determining the sequence) of DNA extracted from the mummy, suggested that very soon it would be possible to decode the DNA of the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley on a massive scale. However, scientists can already determine what diseases they suffered from, which, you see, is also important.
According to Pusch, the embalming process itself helped preserve the DNA in the tissues of the mummies, despite the intense heat. Thus, for example, it was possible to isolate the DNA of five mummies of people who lived in Egypt from 806 BC to 124 AD.
True, scientists have not yet been able to read such a number of DNA fragments to assemble them into one whole genome. But they managed to get new information about the diseases that the ancient Egyptians suffered from. Computed tomography also helped in this, so today we already know for sure that the same Egyptian pharaohs and nobles suffered from atherosclerosis and a number of other cardiovascular diseases. For example, in the remains of 44 deceased Egyptians, well-visible vascular tissues were found, and from them it was possible to find out that 45% of these mummies have completely clear signs of cardiovascular diseases that they had during their lifetime. About 20% of the deceased died before the age of 40, and 60% by the time of death were under 60.
Why did the ancient Egyptians suffer from atherosclerosis so often? Yes, just a sedentary lifestyle led their nobility and ate a lot of fatty meat, and also flour, sweet - the same dates, for example. Well, the meat of cattle, and ducks and geese. That is, it cannot be argued that the mummified people all died from atherosclerosis, but that it was widespread among the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt is undoubtedly.
In addition, it is important to note that the isolated DNA of the studied Egyptians belongs to haplogroup I2, which is widespread in western Asia. And in the same samples were found pieces of DNA of the causative agents of toxoplasmosis and malaria, and traces of nucleic acids from plants such as pine and spruce, that is, it is obvious that their resin was used for embalming.
Mayan skull from the Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico City.
Interesting results were also obtained from studies of the very technology of embalming, which was used in Ancient Egypt. Erroneous information was reported by … Herodotus, who described in detail how the departed of different social belonging were embalmed. For example, he reported that during the embalming of representatives of the elite, the belly of the corpse was cut open and all entrails were removed through this hole. For commoners, they used an enema with cedar oil, which had the properties of turpentine. Herodotus wrote that during embalming, the brain was removed, but the heart was often left inside.
But here's what a study of 150 mummies by anthropologists from the University of Western Ontario showed: First, there were different master embalmers and they used different techniques. Secondly, the representatives of the Egyptian nobility found cuts in the back, not the abdomen. No confirmation was found for the words of Herodotus about enemas with oil, which dissolves the insides. And only 25% of mummies had hearts inside the body, that is, we can say that their extraction was the rule, and preservation was the exception.
Now let's "question" the heads belonging to the dead Maya Indians and … they will also tell us a lot of interesting things. For example, they can tell us that their ideas about bodily beauty were very different from those in Europe. For example, squint was considered a sign of beauty in them; therefore it was called artificially. To do this, a ball of resin or rubber was tied to the hair at eye level. In addition, according to the Maya, it is the elongated shape of the head that distinguishes a person of a noble appearance. Therefore, they deliberately deformed the skulls of babies, clamping them between the plates. Noble people also changed the shape of the nose so as to turn it into "aquiline". It is believed that they were sure that such a face most resembles … an ear of corn, and it was considered a sacred plant by the Maya!
Surprisingly, on this ancient skull we see traces of a complex surgical operation.
No less interesting finds were made in November 1996 in the Peruvian Andes, where lumberjacks accidentally stumbled upon an ancient temple. Once inside, they found the mummies in strange postures that were remarkably well preserved. It's good that they reported the find where it should be, but only two years later, archaeologists were able to get there.
The locals refused to go with them flatly, but they still showed the way to a high-mountain lake, called Lake Kondorov, on the shore of which the abandoned temple stood. Legend claimed that the Chapachoyas Indian tribe lived there 500 years ago, but it suddenly took over and disappeared to no one knows where. Again, the legend said that they all went … to the lake, and thus ended up in the world of spirits.
Well, this head in formalin is at least worth (or rather, it was worth!) The one that has been kept in the Petersburg Kunstkamera for more than 90 years (see https://topwar.ru/121043-likvidaciya-mongolskogo-boga-operaciya- vchk-1923g.html). This is the head of the famous Penza robber and raider of the 1920s, Aleksey Alshin, nicknamed Ale. A lot of history was told about him in Penza, so that he became famous very widely. And as soon as they did not catch him, they could not catch him. And he did not take the loot for himself, but distributed it to the poor. In a word, Robin Hood is a local spill, and nothing more. In any case, the authorities suffered primarily from his actions. When Alshin was finally caught, convicted and shot, they put the flask with his head in the window of one of the shops on Moskovskaya Street in order to calm the people - they say, "my police are taking care of me." Well, and then her head was placed in the Museum. Burdenko as an original artifact.
Only show this to children at night … And women!
Why are we worse than the Leningrad Kunstkamera ?! At first they showed it to everyone, then they removed it to the storeroom, because the hair creeping in the liquid, open eyes and bared teeth made that impression on people! I was lucky that I found out about the head a long time ago, when I was preparing material about Alshin for one historical portal, showed perseverance, wrote the corresponding paper in the museum to them. Burdenko showed me this very container with his head and allowed me to photograph. And yes: it was interesting not only to read about all this, but also to see it with my own eyes. But … to be honest, not very pleasant.
However, today Alshin's head is no longer in this museum. Here are just these unique photos and remained. A distant relative of him was found, began to write that, they say, it is not like a Christian to keep his head in a vessel, and obtained permission to bury these mortal remains, which was done in 2015. The last, so to speak, tangible memory of that already obscure time for us and the "legendary bandit Ale".
And this is how the same Aztecs decorated the skulls of their dead. Nice, isn't it? But why did they do it? National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
When the researchers went upstairs, then yes, indeed, they found there a lake and an ancient mausoleum standing on its shore, but for some reason there was no door in it, only narrow windows. Having made their way inside through these windows, archaeologists found two hundred (!) Mummies of excellent preservation there! But the climate in this area was quite humid and, therefore, over hundreds of years, the mummies should have decomposed completely.
However, after studying the mummies, there were even more questions. For some reason, all the mummies in this mausoleum had an open mouth, and both hands were tied just below the head and folded in a prayer gesture. But judging by the objects of material culture and patterns on the ceramics, it was possible to accurately determine that the mummies belong to the mysterious chapachoyas!
The laboratory also managed to establish the age of the mummies, which turned out to be 500 years. Then they were X-rayed and found out that all internal organs had been removed before burial. This embalming technique was known to the Incas, but how the Chapachoyas could recognize it remains unclear. Unless they thought of it on their own.
It can be assumed with a fairly large degree of confidence that the last representatives of the Chapachoyas tribe were in the mausoleum on Lake Condor. Their mouth was open because the Indians believed that at the moment of death the soul leaves the body through it and plunges into the lake in order to go to another world. Moreover, local residents still believe that the passage to this abode of lake spirits is still open …
It is also here in Peru that two of the oldest mummies ever found by scientists were discovered. These are the remains of a small boy and a man over 30 years old who belonged to the Chinchorro culture. According to the research results, the age of the mummies is 7-10 thousand years, that is, the Indians of this culture died and were mummified 2-4 thousand years before the first pyramids were erected in Ancient Egypt!
