What is the difference between mummies and skeletons

In summary, we provide circumstantial evidence that the systematic and concise analysis of mummy and skeletal remains can allow a reconstruction of major aspects of life and disease in historic populations, although a complete reconstruction is not possible. Abstract The scientific investigation of mummies and skeletons provides considerable data for the reconstruction of the living conditions and diseases of past populations. Publication types Historical Article.

Apparently, the dry climate and high salt content of the region had helped to prevent decay. The mummies were wrapped in cloth, seaweed, leaves, grass matting and furs. Many bundles were topped with a sort of false head, decorated with eyes that stared out into the darkness of the tomb.

Perhaps the most remarkable Incan mummies have been those found on high mountain peaks, where the Inca offered human sacrifices to their Gods. Over the years, some of these sacrificial mummies have been found in the high Andes. In , Dr. Johan Reinhard stumbled upon the body of a young girl, barely into her teens, on top of Mount Ampato in the Peruvian Andes.

Named "Juanita," she is the best-preserved Incan mummy ever discovered. With long black hair, a graceful neck, and well muscled arms, Juanita was found wrapped in a cocoon of fine textiles and surrounded by gold and silver statues, bags of corn, and other offerings. Reinhard led another expedition in that resulted in the discovery of "Sarita," another sacrificial mummy. For more information, see Ice Mummies of the Inca. Archeologist Johan Reinhard, who has discovered several Incan mummies high in the Andes, here pays homage to their sacrifice.

Courtesy Johan Reinhard. Embalming methods usually reflect the tools and materials available to a given culture. For example, the Aleut people, who lived on the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska, mummified their dead by removing the organs and stuffing the cavity with dry grass.

Next they laid the body in a stream, where the running water dissolved the body's fat and washed it away, leaving only muscle and skin. The body was then tied in a squatting position and dried in the open air. Once it was dry, the mummy was wrapped in several layers of waterproof leather and woven clothing and placed in a warm cave, either hanging from the ceiling or lying on a platform to keep it off the damp floor.

In one Aleutian cave, archaeologists found more than 50 mummies dating back years. In Papua New Guinea, embalmers smoke-cured the dead, covered them in a protective layer of clay and propped them up on scaffolding that overlooked their villages. It's not known exactly how the Anasazi, who lived in the "four corners" region of the American Southwest, mummified their dead. But mummies dating as far back as AD have been found wrapped in fur and leather blankets inside caves and rock holes.

Many of these mummies were found wearing a new pair of sandals, presumably for use in the next life. Some of the most spectacular mummies were created accidentally. In , German climbers found a body frozen on top of a glacier near the Austrian-Italian border. Initially, the police and forensic experts who arrived on the scene didn't realize how old the body was—even though he was wearing a grass cape, carrying a bow and arrows and had shoes stuffed with grass for warmth.

Later, radiocarbon dating determined that the "Iceman" died sometime between and BC—making him the oldest well-preserved mummy in the world. Like the Iceman, this Inuit child, who died years ago in Greenland, was naturally mummified.

In , hunters found the best preserved human bodies in North America at an abandoned settlement called Qilakitsoq in Greenland. The "Greenland Mummies," who died about years ago, consisted of a six-month old baby, a four-year old boy, and six women of various ages. Protected by a rock that overhung a shallow cave, the bodies were naturally mummified by the sub-zero temperatures and dry, dehydrating winds. Accompanying the eight bodies were 78 items of clothing, most made out of seal skin.

Over the years, peat cutters working the bogs of northwest Europe have uncovered hundreds of mummies. The spongy top layer of a peat bog tends to seal off oxygen from the layers below. According to the Smithsonian magazine, organs were removed to slow down decay. The stomach, liver, lungs and intestines were placed in boxes or jars and buried with the mummy.

In some cases, those organs were treated, wrapped and replaced in the body. Some mummies have been found with evidence of the brain being left in the skull.

Apparently, it wasn't easy to remove someone's brain while leaving the skull intact. Some animals were mummified because they held some religious significance. Sacred bulls from early Egyptian dynasties had their own cemetery, according to the Smithsonian magazine.

Other animals such as baboons, cats, birds and crocodiles also held religious meaning. Taxidermy involves skinning an animal, curing its skin and stretching that skin over a mannequin to give a lifelike representation of that animal.