Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (1) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.1.117-122

Annotation:  Personal Ornament Production Technology in the Early Holocene Complexes of Western Central Asia: Ins Hadjoh-2: A Middle Paleolithic Workshop-Camp in Northwestern Caucasus The Late Chalcolithic Ceramics of the Volga Forest-Steppe On the Origin of Natural Bitumen at Yasnoye-8 (Sakhalin Island) Inskoy Dol: A New Early Bronze Age Site in Western Altai Decorated Birch-Bark Artifacts from the Ust-Polui Sanctuary (100 BC to 100 AD) An Old Turkic Statue from Borili, Ulytau Hills, Central Kazakhstan: Issues in Interpretation On Ancient Agriculture in Arid Regions of Central Asia: The Case of the Uvs Nuur Basin Geophysical Studies at the Kushmanskoye (Uchkakar) Fortifi ed Settlement, Kama Basin Pit-Grave (Yamnaya) and Pit-Grave-Maikop Burials at Levoyegorlyksky-3, Stavropol A Periodization of the Timber-Grave Culture in the Western Orenburg Region: Archaeological and Natur The Russian Pioneers’ Winter Camp on Karachinsky Island, the Lower Tobol River, Western Siberia An Experimental Assessment of the Cause of Mummification in the Joseon Period Burials, Republic of K Celestial Bodies on the Ob Ugrian Ritual Artifacts (Based on Archaeological and Ethnographic Sources Craniotomy as a Prehistoric Medical Practice: A Case of Antemortem Cranial Trepanation in Southern Secular and Age-Related Dynamics of Biological Characteristics in the Rural Population of Mongolia:   

An Experimental Assessment of the Cause of Mummification
in the Joseon Period Burials, Republic of Korea

Chang Seok Oh¹, In Uk Kang², Jong Ha Hong¹, Jun Bum Park³, and Dong Hoon Shin¹

¹Institute of Forensic Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-ro (Yongon-dong), Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea

²Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea

³Sangmyung University Seoul Industry Academic Cooperation Foundation, 20 Hongimun 2-Gil, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 03016, Republic of Korea

This article presents the results of experiments aimed at testing the hypothesis that the mummification of human bodies in Joseon Dynasty burials was caused by an exothermic reaction and the consequent destruction of intestinal flora. Well-preserved mummies of that period were discovered only in the Hoegwakmyo tombs, where the lime-soilmixture barrier was present. Experiments were conducted using animals’ bodies placed in miniature grave models. Immediately after contact with moisture, the temperature inside the coffin surrounded by a lime-soil-mixture increased to 130.8±23.5°C and remained stable for 141.0±64.7 minutes. The examination of bacterial cultures on MacConkey or blood agar plates showed that the entire fl ora normally existing in the rat’s intestine was completely sterilized by high temperature. We also demonstrate that the same mummification can be reproduced regardless of the sizes of miniature graves.

Keywords: Korea, mummies, Joseon, experiment, animals, lime-soil mixture, Hoegwakmyo