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Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 43, 2056-2061, December 2002
Copyright © 2002 by Lipid Research, Inc.

Fatty acid composition and preservation of the Tyrolean Iceman and other mummies

Athanasios Makristathis^*, Josef Schwarzmeier^,, Robert M. Mader^1,, Kurt Varmuza^**, Ingrid Simonitsch, Jose Chavez Chavez, Werner Platzer^***, Hans Unterdorfer, Richard Scheithauer, Anatoly Derevianko and Horst Seidler^****

^* Department of Clinical Microbiology, Hygiene Institute, University of Vienna, Austria
Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Vienna, Austria
L. Boltzmann Institute for Cytokine Research, University of Vienna, Austria
^** Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Austria
Institute of Clinical Pathology, University of Vienna, Austria
Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria, Arequipa, Peru
^*** Institute of Anatomy, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Institute of History, Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
^**** Institute of Human Biology, University of Vienna, Austria

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: robert.mader{at}akh-wien.ac.at

In anthropology, objective parameters to adequately describe storage conditions and the preservation of mummies have yet to be identified. Considering that fatty acids degrade to stable products, we analysed their profile in human mummies and in control samples by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Originating from different epochs and civilizations, samples of the Tyrolean Iceman, other glacier corpses, a freeze dried mummy, corpses from a permafrost region, a corpse mummified immersed in water, and a desert mummy were evaluated. Chemometric analysis based on the concentrations of 16 fatty acids revealed the degree of similarity between anthropologic and fresh corpse samples, which was mainly influenced by the content of palmitic acid, oleic acid, and 10-hydroxystearic acid. The presence of 10-hydroxystearic acid was associated with immersion in water, whereas dry mummification was accompanied by high contents of oleic acid. Samples of the Tyrolean Iceman clustered between fresh tissue and those of other glacier corpses indicating the good preservation of this mummy.

Thus, environmental post-mortem conditions were associated with characteristic fatty acid patterns suggesting that chemometric analysis of fatty acid contents may add to our knowledge about post-mortem storage conditions and the preservation of human corpses.

Supplementary key words fatty acid degradation • mummification • gas chromatography/mass spectrometry • anthropologic specimens

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