Anthropology and paleopathology of the natural mummies of Navelli (central Italy). Preliminary results

The church of San Sebastiano in Navelli contains hundreds of mummified bodies dating back to XVI-XIX century and accidentally discovered in 1980. The recovery, started in 2001, yielded the remains of 206 individuals in different conditions of preservation. The series includes 157 adults (102 males, 42 females, 13 indefinite), with an average age of 51 years, and 49 children. No macroscopic evidence of internal organs was observed in mummified subjects, whereas skin, skeletal muscles and other superficial tissues (eyes, ears, hair) appeared well preserved, suggesting a preminent role of desiccation in mummification process. Limited examples of mummified animals were also recovered, confirming the environment capability in tissue preservation. The initial paleopathologic analysis allowed to identify various pathologic conditions, including degenerative joint disease, periodontal disease, healed bone fractures, occasional tumors and traces of post-mortem examination. A huge amount of information will be available as soon as the recovery will be completed. (The study was partially supported by the “Consorzio Beni Culturali Provincia L’Aquila”)