{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,19]],"date-time":"2026-01-19T04:50:08Z","timestamp":1768798208967,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]],"date-time":"2025-05-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746144000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The multidisciplinary study of the well preserved cadaver of the so-called \u201cair-dried chaplain\u201d from the church crypt of St. Thomas am Blasenstein (Upper Austria) not only solved the \u201cmystery\u201d of the excellent preservation of the trunk of this unusual mummified human body, but also provided circumstantial information about this historic individual, his life and disease history, and conclusion of his cause of death. The mummy of a 35\u201345 year old male, radiocarbon dated to the period 1730\u20131780 CE is most likely that of the local aristocratic parish vicar Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg who had been temporarily delegated to St. Thomas parish from his mother monastery of Waldhausen im Strudengau (Upper Austria). He had a high-quality diet based on terrestrial animal products, showed no signs of major physical work load, was most likely a pipe smoker and suffered from chronic active pulmonary tuberculosis with peripheral and central (hilar) calcifications (primary tuberculous complex) and a right lower lobe cavity with focal heterotopic ossification and potential active inflammation. This latter may have caused acute pulmonary hemorrhage which may have been the cause of death. Most surprisingly, we detected, in the otherwise completely intact abdominal (and pelvic) cavity, extensive packing with foreign material which was identified as a mixture of wood chips, fragmented twigs, large amounts of fabric of various types including elaborate embroidered linen, and even pieces of silk. Furthermore, this embalming method seems to have included high level zinc-ion solution impregnation (most likely zinc-chloride with small amounts of arsenic) and the addition of copper. The packing was inserted into the abdominal body cavity through the rectum. It led to an excellent state of conservation of the trunk, while the face (and skull) and peripheral extremities were less well preserved.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1560050","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]],"date-time":"2025-05-02T11:42:23Z","timestamp":1746186143000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The mystery of the \u201cair-dried chaplain\u201d solved: the life and \u201cafterlife\u201d of an unusual human mummy from eighteenth century Austria"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Andreas G.","family":"Nerlich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Hofer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Panzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Lehn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Judith","family":"Wimmer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Oskar","family":"Nowak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Musshoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Oliver K.","family":"Peschel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology","author":"Aufderheide","year":"1998"},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"Mummies, Disease and Ancient and Ancient Cultures (2nd Edn)","author":"Cockburn","year":"1998"},{"key":"B3","volume-title":"Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains (2nd Edn)","author":"Ortner","year":"2003"},{"key":"B4","volume-title":"The Scientific Study of Mummies","author":"Aufderheide","year":"2003"},{"key":"B5","volume-title":"Die nicht zu Erde wurden. 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