# Any Cases of Natural mummification?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 9, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350 "2004-10-09T08:28:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/1 "2004-10-09T08:28:29Z")
From time to time, dead bodies are exhumed…as part of criminal investigations, or historical investigation. Given that most earth burials are in areas with rather damp soil conditions, one would expect that much of a dead body would be decayed within 40-60 years…and in areas with very high water tables, there would not be much left even after 20-30 years. However, there have been cases where bodies have been found to be extraordinarily well-preserved…have there been any cases where a 300-400 year old corpse has been found to be perfectly preserved? Are there areas where the soil conditions would promote such preservation?
I recall seeing something on TV about that weird pathologist whoruns that “body farm” in Tennessee…he once investigated a cemeary desecration 9sveral bgraves were dug up)…he reported that one of the bodies was that of a recent murder victim…it turned out to be that of a Civil war general, dead for 120+ years.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/2 "2004-10-09T08:48:43Z")
Otzi the iceman is probably the most famous.
[http://www.wilderdom.com/evolution/OtziIcemanAlpsPictures.htm](http://www.wilderdom.com/evolution/OtziIcemanAlpsPictures.htm)
Deserts and peat bogs produce natural mummies quite often.
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### Author:  [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/3 "2004-10-09T09:17:20Z")
-
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- Two examples I know of right off–natives in the Andes mountains had some rites where people were drugged up and essentially left on mountaintops to freeze. At least one young girl has been found in this condition.
- Also, white people have been found in Northern China, dating back how-many-centuries I’m not sure, but it was long long time ago. They were buried in graves in the dry desert, and essentially dried out with very little decay taking place.
- And there’s the peat bogs of Britain, I think is where they are? But if I recall right, really just about all that’s left is the skin in those cases–but you can clearly see what the people’s faces looked like who were killed hundreds of years ago.
~
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/4 "2004-10-09T09:26:47Z")
Athens, Greece has maybe 3-4 cemeteries for a population of about 6 million, which means their capacity is exceeded.
They say that the ground of these cemeteries is so greatly saturated, that bodies need more than 4 years to start decomposing.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/5 "2004-10-09T16:40:00Z")
This column of Cecil’s may be of interest: [How can I get myself fossilized](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_042.html) I thought he did one on incorruptible bodies too, but I can’t find it now so I’ll link to the [Skeptic’s Dictionary entry](http://skepdic.com/incorrupt.html) instead.
There is another way. Under certain circumstances body fat can be changed into a waxy substance called adipocere that can preserve the body. It is composed of triglycerides, free fatty acids and soaps. According to W .E. D. Evans, author of _The Chemistry of Death_ (1963), it’s most likely to happens if the body is obese, if it is adult, if it is female, if it is wrapped in a cloth shroud, and if it is interred in a cool airless vault rather than buried in a grave.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/6 "2004-10-09T16:59:10Z")
There’s a natural mummy from a burial site in Egypt in the British Museum.
Also, in Dublin, there are natural mummies in St. Michan’s Church, Dublin. I am going there soon to have a look at them. One of them is a Crusader. Amazing!
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### Author:  [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/7 "2004-10-09T23:06:35Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> \
> There is another way. Under certain circumstances body fat can be changed into a waxy substance called adipocere that can preserve the body. It is composed of triglycerides, free fatty acids and soaps.
There’s a Chinese example of this one. The lady in question wasn’t an empress, but was some kind of high nobility.
> [@](#):
>
> According to W .E. D. Evans, author of _The Chemistry of Death_ (1963), it’s most likely to happens if the body is obese, if it is adult, if it is female, if it is wrapped in a cloth shroud, and if it is interred in a cool airless vault rather than buried in a grave.
(emphasis added)
I’m sure you didn’t mean airless; vacuum was not a concept known to the ancients. :dubious: I suspect you meant “without circulation,” right? 🙂
Mummies have also been found, IIRC, in the Aleutian Islands, or at least somewhere in/near the Arctic. I saw a show (on Discovery Channel, I think) about them several years ago.
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### Author:  [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/8 "2004-10-10T01:30:34Z")
Some members of the illfated Franklin Expedtion were well preserved in the ice of Northern Canada
[link](http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Nunavut/franklin_expedition.htm)
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/9 "2004-10-10T01:44:15Z")
> [@bibliophage](#):
>
> This column of Cecil’s may be of interest: [How can I get myself fossilized](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_042.html) I thought he did one on incorruptible bodies too, but I can’t find it now so I’ll link to the [Skeptic’s Dictionary entry](http://skepdic.com/incorrupt.html) instead.
>
> There is another way. Under certain circumstances body fat can be changed into a waxy substance called adipocere that can preserve the body. It is composed of triglycerides, free fatty acids and soaps. According to W .E. D. Evans, author of _The Chemistry of Death_ (1963), it’s most likely to happens if the body is obese, if it is adult, if it is female, if it is wrapped in a cloth shroud, and if it is interred in a cool airless vault rather than buried in a grave.
Isn’t there a guy in the Smithsonian whose body soapanifed?
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/10 "2004-10-10T02:30:39Z")
I saw the [Soap Woman](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/PAPHImut.html) at the Mutter museum in Philly.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/11 "2004-10-10T05:00:43Z")
Strom Thurmond.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/12 "2004-10-10T05:30:04Z")
> [@asterion](#):
>
> Isn’t there a guy in the Smithsonian whose body soapanifed?
Yes, he used to be on display (he was the highlight of my high-school class trip to DC in 1967, along with the Army Medical Museum) but he was decided to be in bad taste and now most likely is in storage somewhere.
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### Author:  [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/13 "2004-10-10T05:31:33Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> Strom Thurmond.
And Nancy Reagan.
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/14 "2004-10-10T05:36:34Z")
I know thisisn’t the best site for the store, but at Seattle’s[Ye Olde Curiosity Shop](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/wa.html) they have 2 desert mummies Sylvester and Sylvia
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/15 "2004-10-10T05:41:44Z")
[Here’s](http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/strange/curiosityshop.htm) a more comprehensive site.
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### Author:  [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/16 "2004-10-10T17:43:50Z")
> [@DougC](#):
>
> - And there’s the peat bogs of Britain, I think is where they are? But if I recall right, really just about all that’s left is the skin in those cases–but you can clearly see what the people’s faces looked like who were killed hundreds of years ago.
Peat bog bodies have been found several places in Northern Europe, and although they vary greatly in quality, much more than the skin is usually preserved. In the case of one of the most famous bodies found in Denmark, archeologists were even able to study what the man had eaten for his last meal! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/17 "2004-10-10T18:14:57Z")
“Copper Man,” an ancient miner from northern Chile, used to be on display at the American Museum of Natural History. He was apparently killed by a rock fall in the mine and his body was preserved by copper salts - it looked greenish.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/18 "2004-10-10T18:52:33Z")
[Burial conditions in Mexico can produce mummies unintentionally](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1031_021031_MummyRoadShow.html):
> [@](#):
>
> In the beautiful Mexican colonial city of Guanajuato, a fascinating museum is home to more than 100 local mummies. The mummified remains weren’t prepared by the people of Guanajuato, but were instead created as a result of extremely dry weather conditions coupled with an overcrowded cemetery. Their discovery initially surprised the locals—and put Guanajuato on the mummy map.
>
> [snip]
>
> In the past, the town charged a fee to bury loved ones in the crowded cemetery. The fee could be paid in annual installments, which was a desirable option for the town’s poor. However, if for any reason payments were discontinued, the bodies were removed from their tombs to free up more space.
>
> In the late 1800s, several corpses were exhumed. The townspeople were surprised to find that some of the bodies had been mummified as a result of the region’s extremely dry conditions.
>
> “They were accidental mummies, nobody mummified them on purpose,” Beckett said.
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### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/19 "2004-10-11T01:03:19Z")
I wanted to post about the Guanajuato mummies, but was beat to the punch. I will say, though, that it’s typical in Mexico to bury your loved ones in the municipal cemetary temporarily. This is free. But you’ve only got five years to find a permanent place. If no one claims the body, well, then, I guess it’s possible to become a mummy.
The justification is maybe you can’t afford a place all of a sudden. So it’s kind of a cool service until you can buy a permanent plot.
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### Author:  [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-cases-of-natural-mummification/268350/20 "2004-10-11T23:43:38Z")
> [@jjimm](#):
>
> Also, in Dublin, there are natural mummies in St. Michan’s Church, Dublin. I am going there soon to have a look at them. One of them is a Crusader. Amazing!
Given how memorable a visit to the crypt at St. Michan’s is, it’s perhaps a bit curmudgenly to say it **jjimm** - particularly since I’m going to claim it’s a dodgy cite at that - but it’s unlikely that “The Crusader” is anything of the sort.
Since I’d enjoyed my first visit to the church ten years ago, we paid it another visit on the last day of that Dublin trip we met up with you on back in April. The current guide, while not as colourful as his predecessor, was pretty upfront about how the set of mummies that you’re shown in the crypt are probably a slightly artificial gathering of the best examples from throughout the vaults, brought together at some point purely for the benefit of tour parties. He also mentioned that testing in recent years has ruled out a date for any of them earlier than the early modern period. So no crusader. I presume that the testing he was referring to was related to the paper with an abstact on [this page](http://www.paleopathology.org/2003%20Abstracts.htm), though it mentions nothing about radiocarboning the mummies.
The caveat is that the guide went on to talk an immense load of bollocks about the vault next to it - as alluded to by **Angua** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=279461) that you’ll have seen. Come to think of it, the previous guide came out with an entirely _different_ load of bollocks about that same vault …
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