info@woodslane.com.au
Contact us on (02) 8445 2300
For all customer service and order enquiries

WOODSLANE

Popular Subjects

Woodslane Online Catalogues

9780252071003 Add to Cart Academic Inspection Copy

Virtual Mummy

  • ISBN-13: 9780252071003
  • Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
    Imprint: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
  • By Sarah Underhill Wisseman
  • Price: AUD $38.99
  • Stock: 0 in stock
  • Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
  • Local release date: 14/12/2002
  • Format: Paperback 84 pages Weight: 0g
  • Categories: Archaeology [HD]
Description
Google
Preview
The Virtual Mummy is a thoroughly readable introduction to the nondestructive techniques used by contemporary researchers to analyze the artifacts and culture of ancient Egypt. It tells the captivating story of the “virtual unwrapping of an Egyptian mummy and the interdisciplinary project that allowed researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to investigate the person inside by way of an autopsy performed by computer. The mummy, acquired by the university's Spurlock Museum in 1989, was from the Fayum region of Egypt and is dated to about 100 a.d. Although other mummy projects have used destructive analytical techniques, the Spurlock mummy was never even unwrapped. Minute samples of loose material were taken for dating and for textile and wood analysis without affecting the integrity or display quality of the artifact. Faculty and staff members from area hospitals and University of Illinois departments including classics, anthropology, chemistry, textile sciences, and entomology were recruited by the Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials for the project. The interdisciplinary team implemented a research plan that relied on medical imaging techniques including X rays and CT scans. They also utilized for the first time in the history of mummy research a Cray II supercomputer - at the university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications - to render three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull and body. Replete with illustrations, Sarah U. Wisseman's engaging chronicle of teamwork and research gives readers the chance to experience how ancient history melded with contemporary technology. The Virtual Mummy also includes a review of the development of mummification and a general history of mummy research.
Google Preview content