Researchers Discover “Unusually Well-Preserved” Mummy in Church Crypt

Researchers discovered a centuries-old mummy in Austria that was exceptionally well preserved, likely due to a previously undocumented embalming technique involving wood chips, twigs, fabric, and zinc chloride.

For centuries, cultures around the world have practiced embalming, often for religious purposes. While embalming methods vary widely, not all have been equally studied.

In a first-of-its-kind report, an international team of researchers examined a mummy from a small village in Austria. Their detailed analysis revealed previously undocumented mummification techniques and led to the identification of the individual.

“The unusually well-preserved mummy in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein is the corps of a local parish vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746,” said Dr Andreas Nerlich, a pathologist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and first author of the Frontiers in Medicine article. “Our investigation uncovered that the excellent preservation status came from an unusual type of embalming, achieved by stuffing the abdomen through the rectal canal with wood chips, twigs, and fabric, and the addition of zinc chloride for internal drying.”

A different type of embalming

The team carried out extensive analyses, including CT scans, a focal autopsy, and radiocarbon dating. They found the mummy’s upper body to be fully intact, while the lower limbs and head showed significant post-mortem decay.

During their investigation, the researchers found a variety of foreign material packed in the abdominal and pelvic cavity. Upon opening the body, the team identified wood chips from fir and spruce, fragments of branches, as well as different fabrics, including linen, hemp, and flax. All these materials were easily available at that time and in that region.

The researchers believe it is this mixture of materials that kept the mummy in such good condition. “Clearly, the wood chips, twigs, and dry fabric absorbed much of the fluid inside the abdominal cavity,” said Nerlich. Next to these absorbents, a toxicological analysis showed traces of zinc chloride, which has a strong drying effect.

This way of embalming is different to better-known methods where the body is opened to prepare it. Here, however, the embalming materials were inserted via the rectum. “This type of preservation may have been much more widespread but unrecognized in cases where ongoing postmortal decay processes may have damaged the body wall so that the manipulations would not have been realized as they were,” Nerlich pointed out.

Inside the mummy, the researchers also found a small glass sphere with holes on both ends – perhaps an application to fabric of monastic origin. Since only a single bead was found, it might have been lost during the preparation of the body.

Tracing a life

The mummy was long rumored to belong to Sidler, but the origin of these rumors is unknown. It was, however, only the current investigation that provided certainty as to its identity. “The identification of the mummy comes from our interdisciplinary analysis, especially with the radiocarbon dating, his body activity pattern, and the stable isotope pattern,” Nerlich said.

These analyses showed that the mummy died most likely aged between 35 and 45 years old and most probably between 1734 and 1780. These dates match Sidler’s life. In addition, they suggested Sidler ate a high-quality diet based on central European grains, animal products, and possibly inland fish. Towards the end of his life, he may have experienced food shortages, likely due to the War of the Austrian Succession. The lack of major signs of stress on the skeleton fits the life of a priest without hard physical activity. There was also evidence of a long-term smoking habit, and lung tuberculosis towards the end of his life.

“We have some written evidence that cadavers were ‘prepared’ for transport or elongated laying-out of the dead – although no report provides any precise description,” Nerlich concluded. “Possibly, the vicar was planned for transportation to his home abbey, which might have failed for unknown reasons.”

Reference: “The mystery of the “air-dried chaplain” solved: the life and “afterlife” of an unusual human mummy from eighteenth century Austria” by Andreas G. Nerlich, Peter Hofer, Stephanie Panzer, Christine Lehn, Judith Wimmer, Oskar Nowak, Frank Musshoff and Oliver K. Peschel, 14 March 2025, Frontiers in Medicine.
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1560050

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