Paleoparasitology is the application of conventional or molecular investigative techniques to archeological samples in order to reveal parasitic infection patterns among past populations. Although pioneering studies already have reported key paleoparasitological findings around the world, the same sorts of studies had not, until very recently, been conducted in sufficient numbers in Korea. Mummified remains of individuals dating to the Korean Joseon Dynasty actually have proved very meaningful to concerned researchers, owing particularly to their superb preservation status, which makes them ideal subjects for paleoparasitological studies. Over the past several years, our study series on Korean mummies has yielded very pertinent data on parasitic infection patterns prevailing among certain Joseon Dynasty populations. In this short review, we summarized the findings and achievements of our recent paleoparasitological examinations of Joseon mummies and discussed about the prospects for future research in this vein.
Humans ; Korea ; Mummies/*parasitology ; Parasitic Diseases/*parasitology

Multiplex Ligation dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) to detect large deletions or duplications has been widely used as a diagnostic tool for various disease clinically. As this method requires only a small amount of template DNA and is very simple and high throughput, it has numerous advantages for the analysis of the human specimen obtained from archaeological sites. In this study we therefore tried to perform MLPA analysis for detecting any of duplications or deletions in mummy samples (n=4) from medieval Joseon tombs of Korea. Of them, we could not get any authentic data from 3 samples by MLPA method while only one case (HD2) showed the possible presence of duplications or deletions during her lifetime. Although the current report reveal that MLPA is a promising tool for anthropological study in South Korea, more studies are still needed to make up for the validity problem of commercial MLPA kit used in this study.
DNA ; Humans ; Korea* ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Mummies

Tattoo involves puncturing the skin with a sharp instrument and inserting pigment through the epidermis into the dermis. People around the world have been tattooing their bodies for ages. As widely recognized, tattoo marks are found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies dating from about 2000 B.C. The culture of tattooing has had diverse meanings in different cultures. It may include cosmetic, religious and magical origins and identification of a social class. In Korea, there was a record of tattooing on forearm as a commitment to the thieves in Korea dynasty (918-1392). From a medicolegal perspective, tattoos are often used as identification markers in unknown human bodies, and have been associated with several risk factors for lethality from both suicide and accidental death. In this article, we investigated tattoo marks among the 665 autopsies performed in the Southern division of National Institute of Scientific Investigation between August 2001 and December 2002.
Autopsy ; Dermis ; Epidermis ; Forearm ; Human Body ; Korea ; Magic ; Mummies ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; Social Class ; Suicide ; Tattooing

While the presence of pinworm eggs in archaeological samples has been reported by many researchers in the New World, those have been detected very scarcely in the Old World, especially in East Asian countries. In fact, many parasite species were recovered from the archeological remains in Korea, eggs of Enterobius vermicularis had not been found. Recently, a female mummy buried in the 17th century was discovered in the Joseon tomb from Dangjin-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. After rehydration process for 12 days, investigations were carried on the luminal surface of the colon. From them, 3 eggs of E. vermicularis were recovered. They were elliptical, transparent with a thin egg shell, 50.3+/-5.2 microm (length) and 28.2+/-3.9 microm (width) in size. This is the first discovery of E. vermicularis eggs in East Asia.
Animals ; Colon/parasitology ; Enterobius/*isolation & purification ; Female ; Humans ; Mummies/*parasitology ; Ovum

Horace N. Allen, an American physician, was a Presbyterian missionary to Korea. In 1886, he wrote the annual report of the Korean government hospital, summarizing patient statistics according to outpatient and inpatient classification for the first ever in Korean history. In the report, he speculated that hemoptysis cases of outpatient might have been mainly caused by distoma. Allen’s conjecture was noteworthy because only a few years lapsed since the first scientific report of paragonimiasis. However, he was not sure of his assumption either because it was not evidently supported by proper microscopic or post-mortem examinations. In this letter, we thus revisit his assumption with our parasitological data recently obtained from Joseon period mummies.
Autopsy ; Classification ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Korea ; Missionaries ; Mummies ; Outpatients ; Paragonimiasis ; Prevalence ; Protestantism

PURPOSE: In the age of X-ray computed tomography (CT) and digital volume tomography (DVT), with their outstanding post-processing capabilities, indications for planar radiography for the study of the dentition of ancient Egyptian mummies may easily be overlooked. In this article, the advantages and limitations of different approaches and projections are discussed for planar oral and maxillofacial radiography using portable digital X-ray equipment during archaeological excavations. Furthermore, recommendations are provided regarding projections and sample positioning in this context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 55 specimens, including 19 skeletonized mandibles, 14 skeletonized skulls, 18 separate mummified heads, and 4 partially preserved mummies were imaged using portable digital X-ray equipment in the course of archaeological excavations led by the University of Basel in the Valley of the Kings between 2009 and 2012. Images were evaluated by 2 authors with regard to the visibility of diagnostically relevant dental structures using a 4-point grading system (Likert scale). RESULTS: Overall, the visibility of diagnostically relevant dental structures was rated highest by both authors on X-ray images acquired using a dental detector. The tube-shift technique in the lateral projections of mandibular dentition achieved the second-best rating, and lateral projections achieved the third-best rating. CONCLUSION: Conventional planar digital X-ray imaging, due to its ubiquity, remains an excellent method–and often the only practicable one–for examining the skulls and teeth of ancient Egyptian mummies under field conditions. Radiographic images of excellent diagnostic quality can be obtained, if an appropriate methodology regarding the selected projections and sample placement is followed.
Dentition ; Head ; Mandible ; Mummies ; Radiographic Image Enhancement ; Radiography ; Skeleton ; Skull ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tooth

To investigates the condition and the mechanism of the formation of mummy in Shanghai region. Three cases of mummy were normaly examinated. It showed that the formation condition of mummy were influenced by season, scene, and the corpse keeping methods etc. In warm and damp southern region in Shanghai, the mummy formation depended on lower temperature, dry environment season, dehydrated and hunger before death, and interfered factors like ventilating and turning over corpse frequently.
Autopsy ; China ; Embalming/methods* ; Environment, Controlled ; Female ; Forensic Medicine ; Humans ; Male ; Mummies ; Temperature ; Weather

We found calcified pulmonary nodules in a middle-aged female mummy discovered from 350-yr-old Joseon tomb of Korea. In the CT scan, we found six radiopaque nodules in right lung, through the levels of thoracic vertebrae 1 to 6. We also found presumptive pleural adhesions in right thoracic cavity of CT images. We re-confirmed radiological findings by our post-factum dissection on the same mummy. By the differential diagnosis, we speculate that the radiopaque calcification nodules and associated pleural adhesion could have been caused by tuberculosis. This is the first-ever report on the pulmonary tuberculosis identified in archaeologically obtained, pre-modern Korean samples.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Mummies/*radiography ; Republic of Korea ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/*diagnosis

Paleopathologists have begun exploring the pathoecology of parasitic diseases in relation to diet and environment. We are summarizing the parasitological findings from a mummy in the site of Lapa do Boquete, a Brazilian cave in the state of Minas Gerais. These findings in context of the archaeology of the site provided insights into the pathoecology of disease transmission in cave and rockshelter environments. We are presenting a description of the site followed by the evidence of hookworm, intestinal fluke, and Trypanosoma infection with resulting Chagas disease in the mummy discovered in the cave. These findings are used to reconstruct the transmission ecology of the site.
Ancylostomatoidea ; Archaeology ; Brazil* ; Chagas Disease ; Diet ; Echinostoma ; Ecology ; Mummies* ; Parasites* ; Parasitic Diseases ; Trematoda ; Trypanosoma

On November 14, 2001, well -preserved male child corpse was excavated at Heapyeong Yoon's family mountain, Gyeonggi -do, in Korea. For one year after the excavation, the researches about this mummified male were made with various aspects including physical anthropology, forensic medicine, histology, radiology, and archaeology. After the researches, the mummy was presumed to be born at A.D. 1680, the middle of Joseon dynasty period and to die at about 5.5 years old by small pox or complications of same disease. This study is for physical anthropological measurement for this mummy and comparison to anthropometric data of mordern Korean 5 years old male child. The ratio of iliocristal height, iliospinal height and total arm length to standing height of the mummy is smaller than the same age group of mordern Korean. In cephalic index, the head of the mummy is hyperbrachycephalic, acrocephalic and hypsicephalic. There is no difference of cephalic index between the mummy and the same age group of mordern Korean. The mummy was taken the whole body computed tomography with 1mm slice distance. After automatic segmentation process of the skull, the model of the skull was reconstructed.
Anthropology, Physical ; Anthropometry* ; Archaeology ; Arm ; Cadaver ; Child* ; Child, Preschool ; Forensic Medicine ; Gyeonggi-do ; Head ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male* ; Mummies* ; Skull