Paleopathological assessment of the ancient Iranian salt mummies #1, #7 and #X, Chehrābād salt mine of Douzlākh, Iran

Ohrstrom, Lena; Bagherpour Kashani, Natascha; Seilera, Roger; Bode, Beata; Aali, Abolfazl; Khalifeh Soltani, Sara; Shirani, Shapour; Ruß-Popa, Gabriela; Stöllner, Thomas; Rühli, Frank

doi:10.22034/jinm.2023.544674.1050

Paleopathological assessment of the ancient Iranian salt mummies #1, #7 and #X, Chehrābād salt mine of Douzlākh, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Lena Ohrstrom ¹ ^¶

Natascha Bagherpour Kashani ²

Roger Seilera ¹

Beata Bode ³

Abolfazl Aali ⁴

Sara Khalifeh Soltani ⁵

Shapour Shirani ⁶

Gabriela Ruß-Popa ⁷

Thomas Stöllner ²

Frank Rühli ¹

¹ Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland

² Ruhr Universität Bochum, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Bochum, Germany and Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Research Department & Mining Archaeology Research Branch

³ Institute of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland

⁴ Archaeological Museum of Zanjān, Emaarate Zolfaghari, Zanjān, Iran

⁵ Graduate Medical Sciences Department, Boston University

⁶ Department of Radiology, Tehran Heart Center, Iran

⁷ Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Archaeological Institute, Archaeological Sciences, Hollandstraße 11-13, 1020 Vienna, Austria

10.22034/jinm.2023.544674.1050

Abstract

A paleopathological assessment of the ancient human remains from the Salt mine of Douzlakh, which are kept in the National museum in Tehran, Iran. The ancient human remains were investigated by Computed Tomography (CT) as well as by histology. Molecular analyses are still ongoing. The analyses showed that the tissues have been very well conserved in the natural salt. Traumatic lesions can be identified by CT, as a result of the massive force which was put on the individuals during the collapses of the mine.
A paleopathological assessment of the ancient human remains from the Salt mine of Douzlakh, which are kept in the National museum in Tehran, Iran. The ancient human remains were investigated by Computed Tomography (CT) as well as by histology. Molecular analyses are still ongoing. The analyses showed that the tissues have been very well conserved in the natural salt. Traumatic lesions can be identified by CT, as a result of the massive force which was put on the individuals during the collapses of the mine.

Keywords

mummies

ancient salt mine

radiology

paleopathology

Subjects