Loved to death? Autopsy reveals shocking cause of mummified child’s death

As published in the magazine Frontiers of medicine a team of German scientists from the Munich-Bogenhausen Academic Clinic used medical procedures and historical research to identify a 17th-century mummified child buried in an Austrian crypt reserved exclusively for members of an influential aristocratic family.

Performing what they call “virtual”. autopsy“, scientists led by Dr. Andreas Nerlich used CT scans family records, radiocarbon dating and information gathered through archaeological excavations to identify the buried young child as one Reichard Wilhelm, who was born in 1625 and died in 1626. Little Reichard belonged to an aristocratic family known as the Counts of Starhemberg or Starhembergovawho had such power and wealth that some of them actually achieved princely status in Austria by 1765.

However, despite his high family status, it appears that the young man died of accident pneumonia which was complicated by extreme malnutrition.

Child mummy from the Hellmonsödt crypt. Full body view with silk coat. ( Frontiers in medicine )

Spoiled but undernourished: Tracing a mysterious death

The small child was one of the many bodies buried in the crypt. But while all the other individuals were identified by name, little Reichard was not. He was placed in an unmarked wooden casket, instead of an expensive metal casket like the rest of his deceased family members.

His burial was unique in another way, and that was the lack of decomposition seen in the soft tissues of a young child. The conditions in the crypt seem to have been perfect for natural mummification happen, meaning that the boy’s state of advanced preservation is not the result of any deliberate actions.

The so-called “virtual autopsy” involved the use of CT technology, which measured bone lengths and teeth eruption levels. This procedure showed that he was only about a year old when he died, and markers in his soft tissues proved that he was male.

CT scan of the body: (And) Three-dimensional reconstruction of the skeleton. (b) Part of the topogram that specifically shows the rosary of the costochondral junction (thin arrows); the long bones are straight (the right ulna may be very slightly bent; thick arrows) and the metaphyses are minimally expanded on the upper and lower long bones. ( Frontiers in medicine )

Interestingly, this examination also found clear indications that the boy was overweight. This is surprising, since it was equally clear that he was suffering from severe malnutrition. He had apparently received adequate amounts of food, but he still showed signs of suffering from scurvy or rickets, both caused by severe nutritional deficiencies.

In the case of rickets, this disease is the result of vitamin D deficiency, which in turn is the result of long-term lack of sunlight.

The typical bending of the bones caused by rickets was not observed, and this may have been because the boy never learned to walk or even crawl. This suggests that he was very weak as a result of malnutrition, which persisted despite the fact that he was apparently fed regularly.

A virtual autopsy revealed little Reichard’s pneumonia, a known consequence of pneumonia. This respiratory condition is common in children with rickets, meaning his nutritional deficiencies were ultimately implicated in his tragic early death.

“The combination of obesity and severe vitamin deficiency can only be explained by a generally ‘good’ nutritional state with an almost complete lack of exposure to sunlight,” said Dr. Nerlich in Frontier Science News press release, summarizing his team’s findings regarding the boy’s poor health and early death. “We must reconsider the living conditions of the high aristocratic children of previous populations.”

It seems that the boy’s parents did not understand that he needed sunlight to survive. Rather than suffering from neglect, he may have succumbed to overprotective behavior that put him at great risk early on death.

Detail of the mummy’s face. Note here the imperfections of the skin on the chin and nose and the gap between the frontal bone and the silk hood. ( Frontiers in medicine )

Finding little Reichard

As for the boy’s identity, it was determined by data collected in various ways.

A close examination of his clothing revealed that the boy was buried in a long coat with a hood woven from precious silk, the type that would be reserved for the Austrian elite. First of all, family crypt it was mainly used to bury the first-born sons of the noble counts of Starhemberg, and this was a significant clue to the true identity of the boy.

Radiocarbon dating of the child’s skeleton showed that he lived and died sometime between 1550 and 1635. Fortunately, scientists were able to narrow this window by studying historical records that indicated the crypt was renovated in the 1600s. Due to the placement and condition of the child’s coffin, it was clear that he was buried there sometime after that date.

From this point, it was simply a matter of searching historical records to see if any infants who were the first-born sons of the Counts of Starhemberg had died between 1600 and 1635. The infant was in fact the only infant buried in the crypt, and official records confirmed that he must have been Reichard Wilhelm von Starhemberg, who according to the family report was placed next to his grandfather and namesake, the original Reichard von Starhemberg.

The shape of things to come

German scientists were determined to learn as much as possible about the young child and his life, seeking to establish his identity and cause of death using all available sources of information. Their multi-source approach has proven very successful and as such could be a preview of things to come.

“This is just one case,” admits Dr. Nerlich. “But as we know that early infant mortality rates were generally very high at that time, our observations may have a significant impact on the overall reconstruction of infant life even in the upper social classes.”

Top image: Detail of the face and left hand of the mummy of the Austrian child on the stomach. Source: Frontiers in medicine

Written by Nathan Falde