A Systematic Approach to the Application of Soft Tissue Histopathology in Paleopathology

Figure 1

Histological features of mummified tissue from individuals with a postmortem time interval between 16 months and c. 5 yrs. (a) Fat and connective tissue (subcutis) from mummy 3 (17 months) showing good conservation of tissue structures despite the loss of cell nuclei. Note the similarly well-preserved small blood vessel. (b) Lung tissue from mummy 7 (18 months). The alveoli are distended, and in the interstitium small deposits of anthracosis pigment prove the pulmonary origin. (c) Liver tissue from mummy 12 (5 yrs.) showing severe postmortem diagenesis of the hepatocytes but retained tissue structure with small portal fields. Note the pigment that proved to be the results of postmortem oxidation products. (d) CNS tissue from mummy 12 (5 yrs.). The structure of the parenchyma has gone lost; on the right side a small sheath of connective tissue indicates the meninges (all examples: original magnification ×200, staining: H&E).

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