Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-xtvcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-14T21:12:27.431Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Strange Case of the Ankhpakhered Mummy: Results of AMS 14C Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

G Quarta ,
S Malgora ,
M D'Elia ,
V Gaballo ,
E Braione ,
L Maruccio ,
C Corvaglia  and
L Calcagnile
G Quarta*
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
S Malgora
Affiliation:
Curator Egyptian Section of Buonconsiglio Castle, Trento, and co-director Mummy Project, Milan, Italy
M D'Elia
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
V Gaballo
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
E Braione
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
L Maruccio
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
C Corvaglia
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
L Calcagnile
Affiliation:
CEDAD-Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, via per Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy
*
2Corresponding author: Email: gianluca.quarta@unisalento.it.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The ancient Egyptian mummy discovered in the wooden coffin of Ankhpakhered, priest of the god Min, has been studied at CEDAD (Centre for Dating and Diagnostics) at the University of Salento, Italy. The CT scan, performed by the multidisciplinary team of the Mummy Project of Milan, highlighted unusual features of the mummy, suggesting a reuse of the sarcophagus. Furthermore, specimens were taken via endoscopy for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses, which have been carried out at CEDAD.

Type
Archaeology of Eurasia and Africa
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 1403 - 1408
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brodsky-Doyle, B, Bendit, EG, Blout, ER. 1975. Infrared spectroscopy of collagen and collagen-like polypeptides. Biopolymers 14(5):937–57.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calcagnile, L, Quarta, G, D'Elia, M, Rizzo, A, Gottdang, A, Klein, M, Mous, DJW. 2004. A new accelerator mass spectrometry facility in Lecce, Italy. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223–224: 16–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calcagnile, L, Quarta, G, D'Elia, M. 2005. High resolution accelerator-based mass spectrometry: precision, accuracy and background. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 62(4):623–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Elia, M, Calcagnile, L, Quarta, G, Rizzo, A, Sanapo, C, Laudisa, M, Toma, U, Rizzo, A. 2004. Sample preparation and blank values at the AMS radiocarbon facility of the University of Lecce. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223–224:278–83.Google Scholar
D'Elia, M, Gianfrate, G, Quarta, G, Giotta, L, Giancane, G, Calcagnile, L. 2007. Evaluation of possible contamination sources in the 14C analysis of bone samples by FTIR spectroscopy. Radiocarbon 49(2):201–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gianfrate, G, D'Elia, M, Quarta, G, Giotta, L, Valli, L, Calcagnile, L. 2007. Qualitative application based on IR spectroscopy for bone sample quality control in radiocarbon dating. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 259(1):316–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leospo, E. 1986. Museo Archeologico di Asti. La Collezione Egizia. Torino: Regione Piemonte. In Italian.Google Scholar
Longin, R. 1971. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 230(5291):241–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malgora, S. 2008. Ur Sunu. Grandi dottori dell'Antico Egitto. Malattie e cure nella terra dei Faraoni. Vercelli: Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino. In Italian.Google Scholar
Malgora, S. 2012a. Un corpo per l'eternità. In: Cerasetti, B, Lamberg-Karlovsky, K, editors. My Life is Like the Summer Rose. Maurizio Tosi e l'Archeologia come modo di vita. British Archaeological Reports. Oxford: Archaeopress. p 180–94.Google Scholar
Malgora, S. 2012b. La prima del Mummy Project. In: Modenesi, G, editor. Sotto l'ala di Thot. Contributi alla conoscenza dell'antico Egitto. Milano. p 105–16.Google Scholar
Malgora, S. 2012c. La mummia di Ankhpakhered. Indagini mediche del Mummy Project sul reperto del Civico Museo di Asti. In: Boano, R, Rabino Massa, E, editors. Mummie Egizi in Piemonte. Storia ed attualità in ambito egittologicoed antropologico. Torino: Museo regionale di Scienze Naturali. p 63–5. In Italian.Google Scholar
Malgora, S, Bernardo, L. 2013. The Mummy Project. The case of Ankhpakhered: the endoscopy. In: Gill-Frerking, H, Zink, A, Rosendahl, W, editors. Yearbook of Mummy Studies. Volume II. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Malgora, S, Pieri, A. 2010. An Italian mummy mystery. Ancient Egypt 10(6):28–31.Google Scholar
Malgora, S, Pieri, A. 2013. The Mummy Project. The case of Ankhpakhered: CT scan analysis. In: Gill-Frerking, H, Zink, A, Rosendahl, W, editors. Yearbook of Mummy Studies. Volume II. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Hajdas, I, Heaton, T, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, McCormac, FG, Manning, SW, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Southon, JR, Talamo, S, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2009. IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 51(4):1111–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susi, H, Ard, JS, Carroll, RJ. 1971. Hydration and denaturation of collagen as observed by infrared spectroscopy. Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association 66(11):508–19.Google Scholar