British scientists are hoping to uncover 200-year-old secrets at the Capuchin Catacombs, Sicily, south Italy. They use X-ray technology for analysis of remains of 163 of those who were laid to rest.
Staffordshire University is leading the first comprehensive investigation of mummified children from Sicily’s famed burial catacombs located in Palermo.
Capuchin Catacombs contain more than 1,280 mummified or skeletonized body parts. open to the public as a somewhat macabre tourist attraction.
Bodies from the early 16th century to the mid 20th century can still be seen in the period refinery, line corridors, and underground cemetery crypts.
The catacombs include the embalmed body of Rosalia Lombardo, a young Sicilian girl who died of pneumonia brought on by the Spanish flu in 1920.
The first ever comprehensive study of mummified children in Sicily’s famous Capuchin Catacombs is being led by Staffordshire University
In catacombs, mummified bodies. The Capuchin monks from Palermo embalmed wealthy citizens who had died in the 17th or 19th century.
Dr Kirsty Squires, associate professor of bioarchaeology, and her team at Staffordshire have been given exclusive access to a previously unstudied collection of children’s mummies at the catacombs.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council has awarded more than £70,000 funding for the two-year project, which kicks off later this month.
‘Work actually starts next week, which is very exciting,’ Dr Squires told MailOnline.
‘Data collection will take a week and then we will carry out archival research in the following week while in Palermo. All images collected will be analysed over the coming months.’
There are at least 163 children’s bodies housed in the catacombs, including 41 children located in a designated room for children – the so-called ‘child chapel’.
However, very little is known about these individuals, and death records from the period contain limited information, such as just the name of the deceased and date of death.
Dr Squires and her team will examine all 41 children housed in the child chapel who died between 1787 and 1880 using a portable digital direct X-ray machine.
‘We are analysing 41 juveniles as we cannot gain access to the remaining individuals as they are located throughout the catacombs and are inaccessible,’ Dr Squires told MailOnline. ‘We are focusing on individual’s in the children’s crypt.’
The X-ray machine will capture digital images of each child from head to toe. It is a non-invasive alternative to destructive techniques such as autopsy.
In total, 574 radiographs will be taken to generate a biological profile of the mummified children to establish whether mummification was reserved for specific children based on factors such as their age and sex.
Radiographs will also detect the presence of developmental defects, stress indicators and pathological lesions, which aims to gain an insight into the health and lifestyle of the children when alive.
Children were accepted in the catacombs from 1787 but while extensive research has been conducted on the mummified adults, the juvenile mummies have largely been overlooked
The Capuchin Catacombs in the city of Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily are a kind of museum filled with the forgotten dead, who are watched over by a group of Capuchin monks
Exterior view of the monastery and catacombs of Capuchins. Today they provide a somewhat macabre tourist attraction
‘Determining whether children buried in the catacombs suffered environmental stresses on their body can inform us of living conditions and the environments in which they lived,’ Dr Squires said.
“This will be compared to the biological attributes children buried elsewhere, Palermo that were not given mummification.”
This information will compare the child’s position in the room with their funerary attire, artifacts such as chairs or canes, mummification type (natural and artificial), and any other historical documentation.
Until now, most of the research work on Capuchin Catacombs remains has focused on the adult skeletons, and less on the children.
‘The Capuchin Catacombs comprise one of the most important collections of mummies in the world,’ Dr Squires said.
“However there are very few documentary records about children granted mummification, and only a handful of death records. We will fill this knowledge gap.
“Given this funerary rite was usually reserved for adults we want to understand the reason why the children were mummified.
“We know that the children were in high society, but don’t have much information about their development or health during childhood.
Rosalia Lombardo is one exception. Her embalmed body has been incredibly preserved and it was the focus of media coverage.
First, the cemetery was reserved only for clergy workers. Then, it accepted all types of deceased and enjoyed its highest popularity in 19th-century.
This phenomenon, in which the mummy’s eyes seem to move several times per day, has earned her notoriety. It reveals her blue eyes.
Dario Piombino–Mascali, curator of Capuchin Catacombs has claimed that this optical illusion is caused by light passing through her coffin’s glass windows. This is subject to changing throughout the day.
‘[Her eyes] are not completely closed, and indeed they have never been,’ Piombino-Mascali said in 2014.
Dr Piombino-Mascali, who is working with Dr Squires on the latest project, investigated the preservation of Rosalia Lombardo around a decade ago.
He said several of the child mummies at the Capuchin Catacombs ‘look like sleeping children’.
If you feel like walking in the wild, then the Capuchin Catacombs can be accessed by the general public.
“Many mummies result from natural dehydration. Some mummies were treated chemically. He explained to the Guardian that chemically treated mummies are usually better preserved.
They are some of the best preserved. Many of them look just like little children. Some of their eyes are fake and have darkened over time. They look tiny doll-like.
You want them to be happy and healthy. This is very distressing when dealing with children in Anthropology.
Eduardo Hernandez, an artist will create illustrations of juvenile mummies because photography is prohibited in the catacombs.
These teaching materials will be included alongside journal articles and lectures.