Scientists based in Germany used cutting-edge science and historical records to examine a 17th-century child mummy. The crypt where the child was found contained soft tissue that contained important information about the child's life and death. This was the only body in the crypt that wasn't a member of the family and was buried in a wooden coffin.
The team looked at family records and key material clues from the burial to try to understand who the child was.
"As we know that the early infant death rates were very high at that time, our observations may have significant impact in the over-all life reconstruction of infants," said the lead author of the paper.
Well-fed but not well- nourished.
A virtual autopsy was done. The team measured the length of the child's bones and looked at the eruption of his teeth to see how old he was. The soft tissue showed that the child was overweight but his parents were able to feed him well because he was a boy.
The child's ribs were not normal in the pattern called a rachitic rosary, which is usually seen in rickets or Scurvy. He didn't have enough to put on weight. He did not walk or crawl, which may have caused the missing bow of the bones.
According to the virtual autopsy, he had inflammation of the lungs characteristic of pneumonia, and children with rickets are more vulnerable to pneumonia, which may have contributed to his death.
The combination of Obesity along with a severe deficiency of vitamins can only be explained by the fact that we don't get a lot of sunlight. The living conditions of high aristocracy's infants need to be reconsidered.
A powerful count's son.
The question of the child's identity remained even though the probable cause of death had been established. His skull showed that he wasn't large enough for a child. His clothing was examined and it was found that he had been buried in a long hooded coat.
He was buried in a crypt that was only used for the powerful counts of Starhemberg. The child was most likely a first born son of Starhemberg. His burial probably took place after the crypt's renovation around 1600CE, according to historical records of the crypt's management. The baby was the only one in the crypt.
There is no information on the fate of other infants in the family. The baby was most likely the count's first born son after the family crypt was built.
Reichard von Starhemberg, the grandson of Reichard von Starhemberg, and the son of Reichard von Starhemberg, was buried next to his grandfather.
More information: Adipositas and metabolic disorder in a 16th century Upper Austrian infant crypt mummy -an interdisciplinary paleopathological insight into historic aristocratic life, Frontiers in Medicine (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.979670
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