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Virtopsy shows a high status funerary treatment in an early 18th Dynasty non-royal individual

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Abstract

This work presents the multidisciplinary investigation of the head of Nebiri (Museo Egizio, Turin S_5109), Chief of Stables, a high status elite person from the 18th Dynasty involving MDCT, 3D brain surface and facial reconstructions accompanied by a consideration of previously presented chemical analysis of the embalming materials found in fragments of bandages used on the head and viscera (lung) found in one of the four canopic jars. Comparison of the techniques used for the cosmetic treatment of Nebiri with those used in other elite and high status non-royal persons confirms the validity of the use of the term “high status elite” in the case of Nebiri. This case highlights the importance of using modern forensic techniques both to enhance new technologies of retrospective diagnosis on altered human remains and to increase knowledge of past populations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester, 3.5 Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK

    Robert D. Loynes

  2. Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology (UVSQ & Paris 5 University E4569), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France

    Philippe Charlier & Philippe Froesch

  3. CASH (Centre d’accueil et de soins hospitaliers de Nanterre), 403 Avenue de la République, 92000, Nanterre, France

    Philippe Charlier

  4. Human Variation and Identification Research Unit, School of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

    Tobias M. R. Houlton

  5. Clinica Pinna Pintor, Via Amerigo Vespucci, 61, 10129, Turin, Italy

    Rudy Lallo

  6. Department of Public Health and Paediatric Sciences, Legal Medicine Section, University of Turin, Corso Galileo Galilei, 22, 10126, Turin, Italy

    Giancarlo Di Vella & Raffaella Bianucci

  7. Warwick Medical School, Microbiology and Infection Unit, The University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Raffaella Bianucci

  8. UMR 7268, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Etique & Santé (Adés), Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Bd Pierre Dramard, 13344, Cedex 15, Marseille, France

    Raffaella Bianucci

Authors
  1. Robert D. Loynes
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  2. Philippe Charlier
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  3. Philippe Froesch
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  4. Tobias M. R. Houlton
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  5. Rudy Lallo
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  6. Giancarlo Di Vella
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  7. Raffaella Bianucci
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Correspondence to Robert D. Loynes.

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Loynes, R.D., Charlier, P., Froesch, P. et al. Virtopsy shows a high status funerary treatment in an early 18th Dynasty non-royal individual. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 13, 302–311 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-017-9879-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-017-9879-0

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