Radiocarbon Dating of Mummified Human Remains
Application to a Series of Coptic Mummies from the Louvre Museum
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9243458 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pascale Richardin, Magali Coudert, Nathalie Gandolfo, Julien Vincent |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 345-352 |
| Publication date | 2013-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Radiocarbon (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0033822200057465 |
| OpenAlex | W1828066047 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 18 |
Many French museums keep in their reserves a great number of mummified human remains. Beyond any ethical or deontological issues, they constitute an important part of our archaeological and historical heritage. Their dating is often inexact and imprecise, but nevertheless this parameter is very interesting, especially if correlated or associated with other analytical or typological data, e.g. the process of mummification. The present study has been carried out in the context of a multidisciplinary scientific program on a set of Coptic mummies found at the site of Antinoe (Egypt), deposited in the Louvre Museum or sent by the state to various other French museums. To minimize the sample size, we have developed a new method for the pretreatment of hair samples before accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating. Thus, we have taken samples from ≃30 mummies, distributed in 8 museums around France, and also from different textiles or plants near or on the bodies. The results and conclusions show the importance of dating mummies in a museum context. For example, 14 C dates permit the exclusion of the assumed relationship of a woman with a child. Similarly, a hair sample from the head of a mummy presents a very different 14 C date from that of the hair across her chest. The results show that these hairs came from another mummy and were probably placed there intentionally by the people in charge of the collections
Accelerator mass spectrometry · Archaeology · Art · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · History · Paleopathology and ancient diseases
Diet of ancient Egyptians inferred from stable isotope systematics
Radiocarbon Dating of a Series of the Heads of Egyptian Mummies from the Musée des Confluences, Lyon (France)
Status Report on Sample Preparation Protocols Developed at the LMC14 Laboratory, Saclay, France
Datation par le carbone 14 et restes humains
Étude et restauration de deux momies du musée Joseph-Denais de Beaufort-en-Vallée
Dating bog bodies by means of 14C-AMS
Les restes humains
Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates
Improvements to the Pretreatment of Bone at Oxford
Who's That Lying in My Coffin? An Imposter Exposed by 14 C Dating
Extended 14 C Data Base and Revised Calib 3.0 14 C Age Calibration Program
Artemis, the New 14 C AMS at LMC14 in Saclay, France
Centre of Research and Restoration of the Museums of France
Radiocarbon Dates from Jar and Coffin Burials of the Cardamom Mountains Reveal a Unique Mortuary Ritual in Cambodia's Late- to Post-Angkor Period (15th–17th Centuries AD)
C Dating Compared to Art Historical Dating of Roman and Coptic Textiles from Egypt
IntCal09 and Marine09 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves, 0-50,000 Years cal BP
A new protocol for radiocarbon dating of hair and keratin type samples-application to an Andean mummy from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris
AMS radiocarbon dating and scientific examination of high historical value manuscripts
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,38 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2017 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |