Although embalming practices have long been associated with the ancient Egyptians or the pre-Hispanic cultures of South America, they were not as exotic rituals for medieval and early modern Europeans as was believed. New findings in the Milandes French Castlefamous for being the residence of the dancer and singer Joséphine Baker between 1947 and 1968, now demonstrate that these techniques were also used in Europe in the late Middle Ages and early modern period on several individuals of the same lineage.
It was known that in royal, noble and bourgeois families, the deceased was prepared to slow down the decomposition of the body for long enough to display the corpse before and during their funeral, especially if the person had died far from home. However, cases of medieval and early modern embalming are rare in the archaeological record and until now many practical aspects of corpse handling, the tools used and possible differences in treatment by sex or age were unknown. age. Besides, Multiple cases had rarely been documented in the same family.
In a crypt of this building built in the 15th century in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, Dordogne, a collective burial was discovered in 2019 with remains of at least seven adults and five childrenand in 2021 the individual grave of a woman old woman. They all belonged to the aristocratic Caumont familylords of Milandes castle, and all – including minors – were embalmed in the 16th and 17th centuries.
“These findings provide unique knowledge about embalming techniques», he states Caroline Partiotfrom the Archaeological Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) and principal investigator of the study ‘First bioarchaeological evidence of the family practice of embalming child and adult relatives in modern France’ published in Nature. According to this expert, the analyzes carried out on a complete individual and almost 2,000 bone fragments “show careful and highly standardized technical treatment of the deceased», similar in adults and children.
“This shows a know-how transmitted over two centuries», says Partiot.
Skinned from head to toe
Based on the cut marks on the skeletons, the researchers were able to examine the modus operandi of embalming. The ÖAW points out in a statement that “particularly noteworthy is the precise skinning that covered the entire bodyincluding the upper and lower extremities up to the tips of the fingers and toes.
These methods are similar to the procedures described in 1708 by French surgeon Pierre Dionis and carried out in an 18th century autopsy in Marseille. «It is notable that the tradition persists for at least two centuries», explains the anthropologist.
The discovery of the tomb and the analysis of the skeletons reveal that this funerary practice was a tradition deeply rooted in the Caumont familywho enjoyed a high social status at the time. In Partiot’s view, the treatment suggests that embalming was not intended to preserve the body in the long term, but rather to slow decomposition to to be able to display the body during mourning ceremonies.
The fact that the only comparable case of this practice in Western Europe occurs in the Medici family, which reigned in the Italian Grand Duchy of Tuscany, “reflects the particularly high social status of the Caumont family over many generations, with a strong influence at the regional level and probably beyond,” they point out in the study.
Partiot further emphasizes that “the application to family members, regardless of age at the time of death and sex, also reflects the acquisition of this status from birth.”
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