Date: 7:30 – 9:00 pm, 07-Apr-2017
Cost: Meetings are Free to members, Guests $5 – Students with ID $2
Description:
An ancient Egyptian mummy and its coffin, dating to the time of Cleopatra, were donated to the University of Alberta in 1979. Although of non-elite status, the mummy and coffin were of great cultural and scientific significance. In order to visualize the results of the mummification process, to determine the sex and age at death of the individual, and to identify any pathological conditions, x-rays and CT scans were first obtained in 1981. The studies were repeated in 1996 and 2016. As a result of the re-studies some early interpretations were confirmed, while others were refuted. In this talk I will present a brief history of the acquisition and repair of the mummy, will describe the improvements in the x-ray and CT images we obtained, and will illustrate aspects of the mummification process and the skeletal and soft tissue characteristics of the mummy.
About the speaker:
Nancy Lovell (BA Honours Simon Fraser; PhD Cornell) is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Alberta, and a trustee of the SSEA. After establishing her expertise in skeletal excavation and bioarchaeological research at sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, she made her first trip to Egypt in 1989 and shortly after began research on the skeletal remains of ancient Egyptians. She was the lead scientist in the imaging studies of the mummy that are the subject of this talk.
Location:
Room EDC 287 in the Education Block at the University of Calgary.
