“Mummies as Microcosms" is a Peruvian/Canadian collaborative bioarchaeological/paleoradiological project to non-destructively image pre-Hispanic mummy bundles from the Central Coast of Peru. Each bundle is a microcosm of the biological make up of the individual inside, and the cultural process of choosing artifacts to bury with the individual and the characteristics of the mortuary ritual. Our workflow begins with visual inspection, moving to digital X-rays to CT scans. 3D World is our visualization/analysis platform of choice for working with the CT scans, maximizing the recovery of information and presentation of results.
In this webinar, you will learn:
- that a mummy bundle is a microcosm of the biological and cultural aspects of individuals and societies in ancient times
- that our workflow is a filtering process, allowing us to select key bundles to maximize information recovery
- that Dragonfly's rich array of analytical tools, ranging from simple linear measurements to deep learning segmentation and export to mesh models support a range of analytical, visualization and presentation goals is critical to the successful outcome of the research
About the presenter:
Andrew Nelson is a Bioarchaeologist who works mainly on the Central Coast of Peru studying mummy bundles (fardos) to document changes in mortuary rituals and patterns of health and disease from the Middle Horizon to the Late Horizon.
He is also interested in the use of non-destructive imaging in Bioarchaeology, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (Paleoradiology). This area of interest involves the use of radiography and other imaging techniques to non-destructively capture and analyze human skeletal remains and archaeological/historical artifacts. Specific methods include plain film x-ray, CT scanning, and micro-CT scanning. Specific subjects of analysis include skeletal remains from many sites and Egyptian and Peruvian mummies, Moche pots, shrunken heads, and medieval prayer beads and manuscripts.