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closeEmbalming modality
Posted by Apuanus45 on 07 Jan 2017 at 12:21 GMT
This is an excellent and very interesting work. There is also the possibility that craniotomies were not isolated but associated with embalming by abdomen, which did not produce cuts of ribs. For example, in the Medici Grand Dukes (16th-18th centuries) in some cases the written information clearly suggesting that individuals were submitted to autoptic practice were not confirmed by the osteoarchaeological findings, since no traces of cuts in the skull nor in the ribs nor sternum were observed. This discrepancy could be explained with the fact that the procedure was performed by opening only the abdomen and by reaching the thoracic organs through the diaphragm, without sectioning any bones.
See: Giuffra et al., Autoptic practices in 16th–18th century Florence: Skeletal evidences from the Medici family. International Journal of Paleopathology 2016, 15: 21-30; Fornaciari G., Le mummie aragonesi in San Domenico Maggiore di Napoli. Medicina nei Secoli 2006, 18: 843-864.