Mummified Lung Tissue Tested

HILDESHEIM, GERMANY—Raffaella Bianucci of the University of Turin led an international team of researchers in the investigation of the preserved lung found in a stone sarcophagus in the Basilica of St. Denis, Paris, in 1959. The lung was accompanied by skeletal remains, a strand of hair, jewelry, fragments of textiles and leather, and an elaborate copper belt, according to a report in Discovery News. An inscription on the ring suggested that the remains belonged to the Merovingian Queen Arnegunde, who lived in the sixth century. Bianucci said in a meeting at the International Conference of Comparative Mummy Studies that scanning electron microscopy on the lung biopsies showed a massive concentration of copper ion on the surface of the tissue. Copper oxide was also found in the lung biopsies. Low levels of benzoic acid and related compounds were also detected. “These substances are widespread in the plant kingdom and similar profiles have been already reported in the balms of Egyptian mummified bodies,” Bianucci said. The researchers think a fluid made of spices and aromatic plants was injected into the queen’s mouth and settled in her lung. Her copper alloy belt is also thought to have contributed to the organ’s preservation. To read more about forensic analysis of mummies, go to "Heart Attack of the Mummies."