Sept. 14, 2007 — The ancient Egyptians were not the only ones to mummify their dead, according to a study in this month's Antiquity Journal that claims prehistoric Scottish people created mummies too.
The researchers do not think the Egyptians influenced the Scots, but that mummification arose independently in the two regions.
Initial evidence for Scottish mummies was announced in 2005, when archaeologists unearthed three preserved bodies — an adult female, an adult male and an infant — buried underneath two Bronze Age roundhouses in South Uist, Hebrides, at a site called Cladh Hallan. The bodies date to between 1300 and 1500 B.C.
"Distinctive microscopic and chemical changes in the bones showed that the bodies had not been placed in the ground immediately after death, but had been subject to conditions that may have enhanced their preservation," said Andrew Chamberlain, who worked on both the 2005 and the more recent investigations.
Chamberlain, a University of Sheffield archaeologist, told Discovery News that the new evidence relates to the female mummy's knee.
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Analysis of her remains, led by researcher Christie Cox, shows her knee was broken off prior to burial but long after her death. The scientists found the knee buried at another part of the site.
The knee "adds to the evidence for manipulation of the body parts long after death," Chamberlain said, adding that the bones were dry before they were snapped apart.
