Mummies los angeles

The month-old baby, known as the Detmold child, is on loan from the Lippisches Landes museum in Detmold, Germany. The Orlovits family was with a group of mummies found in in a forgotten church crypt in Vac, Hungary. The mummies are both natural and intentional and they often come with as many questions as answers, said Heather Gill-Frerking, an anthropologist and forensic archaeologist, as well as director of science and education for AEI. Some curators agreed to contribute to the exhibition so that scientific tests could be conducted on remains, said Diane Perlov, senior vice president for exhibits at the science center.

Many of the tests — CT scans, X-rays, radio carbon dating, MRI, mass spectrometry, isotope analysis and DNA tests — were conducted as the mummies were being readied for shipment, Perlov said. The exhibit is based on the work of the German Mummy Project, a group of experts from 15 European institutions based at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim, Germany. Wilfried Rosendahl, the scientific head of the project, is curator of "Mummies of the World. Beside human mummies, there is a mummified bog dog, lizard, fish, rat, hyena, cat, squirrel, falcon and a howler monkey from Argentina, Corwin said.

Perlov described an Egyptian woman, her arms crossed over her chest like royalty and her fists closed. Noninvasive tests revealed that in each clenched fist, she clutched the tiny tooth of a child.

It was not immediately known why. Another mummy, also from Egypt, was found to have a number of teeth stuffed in a head cavity. The California Science Center exhibit has grown beyond the original specimens to become the largest exhibition of mummies and related artifacts ever assembled, but the aim remains the same: to understand the history behind each mummy.

Each mummy, the scientists say, has a story. And with the advent of new technology, such as CT scans and DNA analysis, these histories can be revealed without harm.

CT scans in particular are considered the gold standard in mummy research, providing remarkable three-dimensional records that allow researchers to see details such as heart defects, tumors and evidence of respiratory infections like tuberculosis.

CT scans can even be useful for the seemingly simple task of determining gender. The case of one child in the exhibit proved particularly challenging, but the team is now relatively confident he is a boy. In fact, the mummies in the exhibit are all under continuing study, even during exhibition. Just a week before the opening, the remains of Hungarian miller Michael Orlovits, dressed in his Sunday best and laid out on a pristine white sheet with his hands in his lap, was awaiting a CT scan.

Diane Perlov, California Science Center. Los Angeles is finally hosting some celebrities who have a good reason for being all skin and bones, and there are a lot of them: roughly 45 amazingly preserved humans. Hair still braided, pearly whites -- well, not quite white anymore, but still there. And one woman's tattoo is still visible. Plus, what your eyes can't show you, technology can. And then there are the Egyptian mummies.

A big goal for the exhibit is to let people know that these are found on every continent. One baby comes from Peru, and it's got quite a few years on old King Tut. He is in remarkable condition," said Dr. Heather Gill-Frerking, director of science and education, Mummies of the World.