Soft tissue taphonomy: A paleopathology perspective

Abstract

Interest in the diseases that afflicted ancient populations (paleoepidemiology) has been increasing rapidly during the past several decades. It is now clear that a substantial amount of medical information present in the body at the moment of death remains accessible by laboratory studies of human mummies centuries or even millennia after death. However, both endogenous and environmental influences during the postmortem interval can alter the gross appearance and biochemical constituents of the corpse's tissues. Such diagenetic and structural changes can lead to diagnostic challenges. This presentation represents a review of the known effects of the postmortem alterations in structure and biochemical content in specimens of human mummies. Awareness of such variations can help prevent misinterpretations of studied findings. Unfortunately this topic's current database is dangerously small. A plea is included to encourage investigators to target this field for serious research goals.