Development and centralization of the laboratory infrastructures of the Institute for Mummy Studies at the technology NOI TechPark

Iceman Conservation Project 2.0 Study on the state of conservation and feasibility

ME Torino Mummy Study and Conservation Project

Molecular analysis of the microbiome and of infectious diseases in ancient human remains - from capture-sequencing to metagenomics diagnostics.

Illuminating the evolutionary history of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC)

Rediscovering Altamura: advanced multidisciplinary investigations on the skeleton from the Lamalunga cave, Italy. The KARST project (Knowing the Altamura man thRough Science & Technology)

Microscopic and Molecular de novo Analysis of the Iceman's Stomach Content

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Complete mapping of the tattoos present on the Iceman mummy

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Detection and documentation of all present tattoos on the Iceman body, by using the most up to date multispectral photographic survey. The project aims to better&nbsp;understand the meaning of the distribution of the&nbsp;tattoos &nbsp;and their function under an anthropological point of view.

	The main purpose of the project is the publication of a scientific paper, together with a popular science article, and to update the already existing tattoos section within the web site <a href="http://www.icemanphoscan.eu">www.icemanphoscan.eu</a>.

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	The presence of tattoos on the mummified body of the Iceman was noticed since the day of its discovery, on 19 September 1991, in the Italian Alps and numerous publications mention the presence of the tattoos observed on the Iceman&rsquo;s mummified body. Some of the work describes the technique used for making the tattoos. They were produced by piercing the outer layer of the epidermis and by subsequently rubbing in charcoal dust . Because of the dark color of the Iceman&#39;s skin not many of the tattoos are identifiable to the naked eye, not even when observed at close range. Some of the previous work aimed at documenting the tattoos and determine their exact number and location also using infrared-sensitive analogical photography in order to detect tattoos that are not visible to the naked eye. Based on these early studies a number ranging from 49 to 57 tattoos had been defined, divided into 16 group of lines. In a later study, the amount of lines observed was extended to a total of 59 tattoos.

	Based on the location of the tattoos and the known degenerative diseases of the Iceman at his lower back and other joints, they were mainly regarded as possible signs for a treatment or acupuncture.

	Up to now, there exists no unambiguous number of tattoos of the Iceman. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine for the first time the exact number and location of the tattoos present on the Iceman&rsquo;s body.

	Therefore, we are using multispectral imaging developed in the laboratories of Profilocolore s.r.l. This technique have been used for many years now in many fields of application, especially in that of non-invasive diagnostics for the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage artefacts. It is called &ldquo;7-Band Hypercolorimetric Multispectral Imaging&rdquo; (HMI7) and is based on the detection of the local spectral reflectance component of the acquired image. It allows to detect color differences even in the non-visible range.

	This should allow further studies on the function of tattooing in in the human populations living in the Alps in the Chalcolithic.

	The project foresees five different steps:

	Step 1- Mummy preparation and images acquisition, which occurs through the shooting of five different wavelengths ranging from infrared to ultra violet, passing from the band of visible light.

	Step 2-&nbsp; Image processing: done through a software developed by the Color Profile, which exploits the captured images to obtain results with greater visibility.

	Step 3- Interpretation of results: on the basis of the resulting images will be possible to assume the function die from tattoos anthropological point of view.

	Step 4- Scientific publication, where it is assumed to submit the study to the attention of the well-known &ldquo;JCH Journal of Cultural Heritage&rdquo;.

	Step 5- Update of the tattoss in the web site <a href="http://www.icemanphotoscan.eu">www.icemanphotoscan.eu</a>

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Profilo Colore s.r.l.

ICEMAN TATTOO PROJECT

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Profilo Colore s.r.l.

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MummyLabs

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Iceman Conservation Project 2.0

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ME Torino Mummy Project

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ICEMAN STOMACH

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ICEMAN TATTOO PROJECT