Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32084197›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Synchrotron "virtual archaeozoology" reveals how Ancient Egyptians prepared a decaying crocodile cadaver for mummification.

Camille Berruyer, Stéphanie M Porcier, Paul Tafforeau

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
13.9field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Camille BerruyerEuropean Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.ORCID 0000-0002-0046-2972
Stéphanie M PorcierLaboratoire CNRS "Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes"-UMR 5140, LabEx ARCHIMEDE, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France.
Paul TafforeauEuropean Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France.
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility · FRCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although Ancient Egyptians mummified millions of animals over the course of one millennium, many details of these mummification protocols remain unknown. Multi-scale propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography was used to visualise an ancient Egyptian crocodile mummy housed at the Musée des Confluences (Lyon, France). This state-of-the-art non-destructive imaging technique revealed the complete interior anatomy of the mummy in three dimensions. Here, we present detailed insight into the complex post-mortem treatment of a decaying crocodile cadaver in preparation for mummification. Except for the head and the extremities of the limbs, everything beneath the skin of the crocodile (i.e. organs, muscles, and even most of the skeleton) was removed to cease further putrefaction. This unexpected finding demonstrates that earlier knowledge obtained from textual and other archaeological sources does not sufficiently reflect the diversity of mummification protocols implemented by Ancient Egyptians.

Indexed as

Alligators and CrocodilesSynchrotronsAnimalsCadaverEgypt, AncientEmbalmingImaging, Three-DimensionalMummiesTomography, X-Ray ComputedUser-Computer Interface

Identifiers

PMID32084197
PMCPMC7034907
OpenAlexW3008693132

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.