Austrian Priest’s Mummified Body Attributed to Unusual Preservation Factors

Quick Summary

• Researchers analyzed the mummy from the church crypt of St. Thomas am Blasenstein in Austria, known as the “Air-Dried Chaplain,” using focal autopsy, radiocarbon dating, and CT scans.
• Materials found inside included fir and spruce wood chips, branch fragments, hemp, flax, linen fabrics with floral patterns, and zinc chloride-a drying agent. These were inserted through the rectum rather than conventional methods of opening the body.
• The mummy was identified as Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg (died 1746), a local parish vicar aged 35 to 45 at death based on postmortem analysis aligning with past biography details such as diet quality and tuberculosis evidence from long-term smoking.
• Researchers believe this method of mummification may have been widespread in history but that other bodies using similar techniques haven’t preserved well.

Image Captions:

1. Mummy in coffin – Credit: Andreas Nerlich
2. External mummy appearance ventral/dorsal views – Credit: Andreas Nerlich
3. Fabric findings inside abdominal cavity – Credit: Andreas Nerlich
4. Materials removed from dorsal side & foreign sphere detected – Credit: Andreas Nerlich

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Indian Opinion analysis
The revelation highlights diverse historical practices of mummification beyond those traditionally associated with Egypt or South American cultures like aztecs and Incas-showing European ingenuity in corpse preservation mechanics during specific periods like the 18th century Catholic clergy rituals tied locally worldwide influencing vital anthropological connections globally indirectly!