Figure 1.
Macroscopic aspect of the mummy.
(A) Frontal view of the mummy which reveals typical squatting position (although the legs are broken off below both knees). (B) External appearance of the hair plaits which are fixed at their ends by tiny ropes of foreign material. (C) Detailed view of the mummy’s face. Note the transverse defect above the left eye. Both eyes are closed and covered by skin. The mouth is ovally opened, the frontal teeth are missing.
Table 1.
Sequence Data of the T. cruzi amplification product.
Table 2.
Stable isotope analysis of mummy hair.
Figure 2.
Paleoradiology – The skeleton of the mummy.
(A) Three dimensional reconstruction and (B) maximum intensity projection of the complete mummy giving an overview on the skeleton. (C) Sagittal CT reformation image showing the untouched spine and the preservation of thoracic and lumbar intervertebral discs. (D) Coronar CT reformation image of the lumbar spine demonstrating incomplete fusion of the apophyses of the lumbar vertebrae (short arrows). The preserved intervertebral discs reveal the outer annulus fibrosus (long arrows) as well as the inner nucleus pulposus that is now replaced by air (dotted arrow). Exemplary inscription of the segment between the third and fourth lumbar vertebra. Constitutional segmentation defect with fusion of the fifth lumbar vertebra and the sacrum on the right side (arrow line).
Figure 3.
Paleoradiology – The Wormian “Inca” bone.
Three-dimensional reconstruction of the head with back view demonstrating an Inca bone. This anatomical variation represents an additional bone in the lambdoid suture. The present type of Inca bone is typically seen in South American populations, but not in European ones.
Figure 4.
Paleoradiology – Signs of massive craniocerebral injury.
(A, B) Three-dimensional reconstructions of the head illustrating destruction of the upper and frontal parts of the skull as well as the midface. On the right side “terrace-like”, slightly arching defects of the skull are discernible (arrows in B). (C) Sagittal CT reformation image of the head and neck showing numerous bony fragments inside the skull, and in between remnants of brain tissue and possibly of bleeding which accumulated especially in the posterior fossa and foramen magnum (long arrow). Preserved tongue (short arrow) with centrally overlying light seam, presumably representing remnants of bleeding. Note the conspicuous flattening of the preserved occiput (dotted arrow) indicating artificial deformity in the lifetime of the mummy.
Figure 5.
Paleoradiology – Pathologically thickened wall of the heart and rectum.
(A) Axial and (B) coronar CT reformation image of the chest illustrating collapsed lung (short arrows) and a relatively large heart with a markedly thickened wall (long arrows). The heart overlies the diaphragm (dotted arrow in B). The longish hyperdense structure inside the heart represents dried blood. (C) Axial and (D) coronar CT reformation image of the lesser pelvis demonstrating massive circular thickening of the wall of the rectum (arrows). Centrally, the inflated lumen is discernible. The combination of pathologically thickened wall of the heart and rectum suggested the diagnosis of Chagas disease. For further investigations, minimal destructive biopsy of the rectum was planned on the basis of the CT reformation images.
Figure 6.
Histology of bone and cartilage.
Undecalcified section through the cartilage (upper half) –bone (lower half) transition zone of the patella. Note the excellently well preserved cartilage and bone matrix and residues of nuclear material in some of the chondrocytes (arrows). (Giemsa-May-Grünwald staining, undecalcified section, polyacryl embedding, bar 150 µm).
Figure 7.
Histology of the rectal wall sample.
(A) Overview of the specimen showing the lumen of the rectum (asterisk) which is surrounded by the rectal wall with a typical ring-like smooth muscle (arrows). (Haematoxilin and eosin, bar 500 µm). (B) A detailed view of the rectal wall (connective tissue stain) shows smooth musculature (asterisks) which is interspersed by broad bundles of collagen providing the clear diagnosis of massive fibrosis. (Van Gieson connective tissue stain, bar 100 µm). (C) Immunohistochemical staining with a monospecific antibody against Trypanosoma cruzi showing a positive immunostaining of small corpuscular inclusions in smooth muscle cells (arrows). (anti-Trypanosoma cruzi, APAAP-staining, bar 10 µm).
Figure 8.
Molecular analysis of Trypanosoma cruzi ancient DNA.
The agarose gel electrophoresis shows in lane 6 a positive amplicon of the expected size (arrow). (Lane 1: molecular weight standard; lanes 2–3: blank controls; lane 4–5: negative controls; lane 6–7: rectal wall tissue specimen of the mummy; lane 8–9: blank controls).