When dealing with ancient mummified remains, archaeologists are understandably wary. Mummies are an incredible resource for learning more about long-dead civilizations, but too much handling could cause serious damage.
At London’s Wellcome Collection, this problem is solved using a hospital CT scanner. After a quick trip to the scanning room, researchers can examine the mummies in detail without performing any physically invasive procedures.
Wellcome ollection
This video shows three mummies being scanned to create 3D models of the remains, which can tell us a great deal about how these people lived and died.
Wellcome Collection
As one researcher points out, this technique can also be a very useful for identifying counterfeit mummies without removing the outer layer of wrapping.
Sceengrab via Wellcome Collection/YouTube