The health, development and social identity of children afforded mummification in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily

The study of childhood in the past has historically been neglected. Similarly, studies of mummified remains have tended to focus on adults. Yet the children have much to tell us about societal values, identity, and roles and responsibilities within society. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo (northern Sicily) is a unique site dating from the late 16th to early 20th century. They contain the largest collection of mummified remains in Europe, with at least 1,284 mummified bodies; providing an unparalleled snapshot into the people that inhabited Palermo in the past. Previous research has primarily focused on adults in the catacombs, while the children have largely been overlooked. The proposed research project will redress the balance, and will be the first to exclusively examine children afforded the mummification rite in late modern Palermo. There are at least 163 children's bodies housed in the catacombs, including 41 children located in a designated room for children. Death records from the period are available, though the information that can be extracted from these documents is limited to the names of the deceased and date of death (Biblioteca Cappuccini Palermo, n.d.).

The aim of this project is to gain an insight into the health, development, and social identity of children afforded mummification in late modern Palermo. This project will involve the examination of all forty-one children (housed in the children's room of the catacombs) using a portable digital direct x-ray machine as the mummified remains cannot be removed from the site. This project will (a.) generate a biological profile of the mummified children to establish whether this mortuary rite was reserved for specific children based on their age and/or sex, (b.) to detect the presence of developmental defects, stress indicators and pathological lesions, which aims to gain an insight into the health and lifestyle of children in life, (c.) compare the results of (a) and (b) with the deceased's placement within the catacombs, their funerary attire and associated artefacts, and mummification type (e.g. natural or artificial), alongside any surviving historical documentation. This will reveal a unique insight into the children that were afforded mummification in late modern Palermo. Our biocultural approach will highlight who these children were, why they were granted mummification, their identities, and how the living perceived and treated these children in life and death.

The proposed project will produce a more complete understanding of juveniles from this period which will, in turn, generate a more comprehensive insight into Palermo society during the late modern period. Furthermore, the adoption of a purely non-invasive methodology will highlight the wealth of information that can be extracted, without the need of destructive techniques, to further our understanding of the lives and deaths of children in the past. We aim to demonstrate to fellow scholars that it is possible to obtain detailed biological information from mummified remains using non-destructive methods, which will ensure cultural, societal and ideological beliefs and values are honoured and respected. This research will thus contribute to worldwide academic advancement of mummy studies and bioarchaeology by demonstrating good practice in terms of the collaborative nature of the project, the application of non-invasive methodologies, the use of specialist technologies, and our ethical approach.