Animal Mummy Project - Methodology

STEP 2: VISUAL EXAMINATION OF THE MUMMY
Scholars used to study mummies by unwrapping them. However, unwrapping a mummy destroys it, so the Animal Mummy Project has found a way of studying mummies without damaging them. First we look at the wrapped mummy:

How is it wrapped?

These are mummified joints of meat. Note how the one in front has an outer covering of simple cloth, hiding the decorative inner wrappings from sight. If this mummy was not already partially unwrapped we might never have known what the inner bandages looked like.

The mummy below was wrapped up to look like a cat.
Ears and a tail made of cloth were added to heighten the appearance.

What kind of bandages are used?
What type of cloth was used? Linen was a comon fabric, but it could be very coarse or very soft and fine. It could be colored with dyes or woven in different ways.

Are they wrapped in a special pattern?

By alternating dark and light bandages, or simply crisscrossing plain bandages in interesting ways a number of effects could be created.

Not All Animal Mummies Were Wrapped
If the mummy is not completely wrapped it is examined visually. If only a skeleton remains, the bones are examined so that the animal is identified, its age at death is established, and anything else that can be told from the bones is recorded. In some cases, the fur, feathers, or fins are well preserved.

This elegant hound was preserved without wrappings.

Measuring The Mummies
After carefully recording all of our observations about a mummy we measure its dimensions.

Dr. Ikram measures the width of a dog mummy.

The length of a meat mummy is checked.

Recording The Data
All of this information is recorded on a DATA SHEET, and the mummy is photographed for future identification and reference.

THEN WE X-RAY THE MUMMIES......