| Piraino 1 Human Mummy | |
| |
| Piraino 1 under examination | |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Piraino 1 |
| Age | 35-50 |
| Sex | Male |
| Status | religious significance |
| Height | |
| Source | |
| Culture | |
| Date(s) | Late 18th to mid 19th century |
| Site | Piraino Mother Church in the village of Piraino |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Messina, Sicily |
| Catalog # | |
Piraino was an unidentified adult male and was buried in the crypts of the church. He died at the approximate age of 35 to 50 years old due to multiple myleoma in conjunction with other pathologies.
Mummification
Piraino 1 was of 26 mummified through the result of a local funeral custom. This involves draining the body in a ventilated chamber and stuffed with straw of bay leaves in order to preserve shapeliness and smell. The mummy was the exposed to drying conditions. These mummies were then placed in a crypt in the local church.
Pathology
Through radiology, Piraino 1 was shown to have multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cell. In addition, milkwort spores were found which is a known herbal cancer treatment common in China and Turkey. Piraino 1 was also found to have whipworm infection discovered through coprolite analysis. This infection was common among the lower social class, however his multiple myeloma made him more susceptible to whipworm infection.
Piraino 1 was also found to have enamel hypoplasia suggesting he experienced disease of famine early in life. Plural adhesion which was likely stemmed from healed lung conditions such as pneumonia.
External Links
Piombino-Mascali, D., Zink, A. R., Reinhard, K. J., Lein, M., Panzer, S., Aufderheide, A. C., ... & LeRoy-Toren, S. (2013). Dietary analysis of Piraino 1, Sicily, Italy: the role of archaeopalynology in forensic science. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(4), 1935-1945.