Mummified animals from ancient Egypt 'digitally unwrapped' to unlock mysteries

Researchers have "digitally unwrapped" mummified animals from ancient Egypt, revealing previously undiscovered details about ritualistic mummification. Analysis of the 2,000-year-old animals – which include a bird, a kitten and a snake – was done using a technique that achieves a resolution 100-times higher than a medical CT scan. "Using micro CT we can effectively carry out a post-mortem on these animals, more than 2,000 years after they died in ancient Egypt," said Professor Richard Johnston from Swansea University, who led the research. "We were able to piece together new evidence of how they lived and died, revealing the conditions they were kept in, and possible causes of death. "These are the very latest scientific imaging techniques.