Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test

Kamal Aldin Niknami; Mohamad Masoumian; Parisa Nekouei

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test

Kamal Aldin Niknami, Mohamad Masoumian, Parisa Nekouei

Published in International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 2, Issue 2)

Received: 4 May 2014 Accepted: 20 May 2014 Published: 20 June 2014

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Abstract

In the past years, several corpses that remained intact in the course of history were found in the Chehrabad salt mine of Zanjan Province, Iran and were made use to conduct several interdisciplinary studies to answer the questions of this paper. As we may know, archeological findings are always exposed to destruction. The rate of destruction depends variably on the organic or mineral substances and materials, as well as the environmental factors. In the environments with saline soils like the archeological site of Chehrabad, the destruction rate makes it necessary to adopt a new approach for the study of destruction and protection of the data. Therefore, the six samples of the rock salt taken from this site were analyzed by XRF method and psychrometric tests. The results show that the different saline compositions and environmental conditions are effective in the protection or destruction of organic or mineral components. In addition, we concluded that the high purity of rock salt at this site (more than 99.5%) and the very low moisture content of the environment were involved in the mummification of the buried corpses immediately after they were buried and thus prevented the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms that were the cause of decay.

Published in	International Journal of Archaeology (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
Page(s)	6-11
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Chehrabad Salt Mine, Salt Men, Salt Mummies, XRF, Psychrometric Test

References

[1]	Aali, A. 2006, Chehr Abad salt mine: report on new archaeological investigation in 2004-5, Arc-haeological Reports 5, 25-53.
[2]	Aali, A., Abar, A., Boenke, N., Pollard, M., Ruhli, F., and Stollner, T., 2012, Ancient salt mining and salt men: The interdisciplinary Chehrabad Douzlakh project in north-western Iran, Antiquity, vol.086, Issue 333.
[3]	Chamberlain, A. T. and Parker Pearson, M., 2001, Earthly remains, the history and science of preserved human bodies, London, The British Museum Press.
[4]	Fennema, O.R., (ed.), Food chemistry (3rd ed.), New York, Marcel Dekker Inc.
[5]	Hadian Dehkordi 2007, Application of scientific investigations in conservation and restoration of historical buildings, Tehran, Tehran University Press.
[6]	Davidson, P. M. 1997, Chemical preservatives and natural antimicrobial compounds, in M. P. Doyle, L. R. Beauchat, and T. J. Montville (eds.), Food microbiology: fundamentals and frontiers, Washington, DC, ASM Press, 520-556.
[7]	Lucas, A. 2014, The use of natron in mummification, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 18 (3/4), 125-140.
[8]	Johnsen, O., 2002, Minerals of the world, Princeton University Press.
[9]	Potter, N. N., and Hotchkiss, J. H., 1995, Food science, (5th ed.), Food Science Texts Series, New York, Chapman & Hall.
[10]	RCCCR, 1998, Salt Man, Scientific investigations carried out on salt man mummified remains and its artifacts. Tehran: Research Center for Conservation of Culture Relics.
[11]	Shelef, L. A., and J. Seiter 2005, Indirect and miscellaneous antimicrobials, in: P. M. Davidson, J. N. Sofos, and A. Larry. Branen (eds.), Antimocrobials in food (3rd ed.), Taylor and Francis, 573-598.
[12]	Shokouhi, J.J., 2005, Radiographic report on Salt Man no. 4, unpublished manuscript, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, ICHTO, Tehran.
[13]	Subouti, H., 1997, Preliminary report of Zanjan salt, Obituary Susa Archaeological Conference, Vol. 1, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, ICHTO, Tehran.
[14]	Vatandoust, A. and Hadian Dehkordi, M., 2005, Salt man, a new archaeological discovery: scientific investigation and conservation, in E.R. Massa (ed.), Proceedings of Fifth World Congress on Mummy Studies, Turin, Italy, 2nd–5th September 2004, Journal of Biological Research 80, 236–42.
[15]	Wijnkera, J.J., Koopb, G. and Lipmanb, L.J.A., 2006, Antimicrobial properties of salt (Na Cl) used for the preservation of natural casings, Food Microbiology 23, 657–662.

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APA Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami, Mohamad Masoumian, Parisa Nekouei. (2014). Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. International Journal of Archaeology, 2(2), 6-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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ACS Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami; Mohamad Masoumian; Parisa Nekouei. Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. Int. J. Archaeol. 2014, 2(2), 6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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AMA Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami, Mohamad Masoumian, Parisa Nekouei. Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. Int J Archaeol. 2014;2(2):6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11,
  author = {Kamal Aldin Niknami and Mohamad Masoumian and Parisa Nekouei},
  title = {Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test},
  journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {6-11},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20140202.11},
  abstract = {In the past years, several corpses that remained intact in the course of history were found in the Chehrabad salt mine of Zanjan Province, Iran and were made use to conduct several interdisciplinary studies to answer the questions of this paper. As we may know, archeological findings are always exposed to destruction. The rate of destruction depends variably on the organic or mineral substances and materials, as well as the environmental factors. In the environments with saline soils like the archeological site of Chehrabad, the destruction rate makes it necessary to adopt a new approach for the study of destruction and protection of the data. Therefore, the six samples of the rock salt taken from this site were analyzed by XRF method and psychrometric tests. The results show that the different saline compositions and environmental conditions are effective in the protection or destruction of organic or mineral components. In addition, we concluded that the high purity of rock salt at this site (more than 99.5%) and the very low moisture content of the environment were involved in the mummification of the buried corpses immediately after they were buried and thus prevented the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms that were the cause of decay.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test
AU  - Kamal Aldin Niknami
AU  - Mohamad Masoumian
AU  - Parisa Nekouei
Y1  - 2014/06/20
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
SP  - 6
EP  - 11
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7595
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
AB  - In the past years, several corpses that remained intact in the course of history were found in the Chehrabad salt mine of Zanjan Province, Iran and were made use to conduct several interdisciplinary studies to answer the questions of this paper. As we may know, archeological findings are always exposed to destruction. The rate of destruction depends variably on the organic or mineral substances and materials, as well as the environmental factors. In the environments with saline soils like the archeological site of Chehrabad, the destruction rate makes it necessary to adopt a new approach for the study of destruction and protection of the data. Therefore, the six samples of the rock salt taken from this site were analyzed by XRF method and psychrometric tests. The results show that the different saline compositions and environmental conditions are effective in the protection or destruction of organic or mineral components. In addition, we concluded that the high purity of rock salt at this site (more than 99.5%) and the very low moisture content of the environment were involved in the mummification of the buried corpses immediately after they were buried and thus prevented the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms that were the cause of decay.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

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Author Information

Kamal Aldin Niknami

Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Enghlab Street, Tehran, Iran
Mohamad Masoumian

Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Enghlab Street, Tehran, Iran
Parisa Nekouei

Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Enghlab Street, Tehran, Iran

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami, Mohamad Masoumian, Parisa Nekouei. (2014). Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. International Journal of Archaeology, 2(2), 6-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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ACS Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami; Mohamad Masoumian; Parisa Nekouei. Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. Int. J. Archaeol. 2014, 2(2), 6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

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AMA Style

Kamal Aldin Niknami, Mohamad Masoumian, Parisa Nekouei. Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test. Int J Archaeol. 2014;2(2):6-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11,
  author = {Kamal Aldin Niknami and Mohamad Masoumian and Parisa Nekouei},
  title = {Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test},
  journal = {International Journal of Archaeology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {6-11},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ija.20140202.11},
  abstract = {In the past years, several corpses that remained intact in the course of history were found in the Chehrabad salt mine of Zanjan Province, Iran and were made use to conduct several interdisciplinary studies to answer the questions of this paper. As we may know, archeological findings are always exposed to destruction. The rate of destruction depends variably on the organic or mineral substances and materials, as well as the environmental factors. In the environments with saline soils like the archeological site of Chehrabad, the destruction rate makes it necessary to adopt a new approach for the study of destruction and protection of the data. Therefore, the six samples of the rock salt taken from this site were analyzed by XRF method and psychrometric tests. The results show that the different saline compositions and environmental conditions are effective in the protection or destruction of organic or mineral components. In addition, we concluded that the high purity of rock salt at this site (more than 99.5%) and the very low moisture content of the environment were involved in the mummification of the buried corpses immediately after they were buried and thus prevented the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms that were the cause of decay.},
 year = {2014}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Salification Process of Human Body in the Chehrabad Salt Mine using XRF and Psychrometric Test
AU  - Kamal Aldin Niknami
AU  - Mohamad Masoumian
AU  - Parisa Nekouei
Y1  - 2014/06/20
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
T2  - International Journal of Archaeology
JF  - International Journal of Archaeology
JO  - International Journal of Archaeology
SP  - 6
EP  - 11
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7595
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ija.20140202.11
AB  - In the past years, several corpses that remained intact in the course of history were found in the Chehrabad salt mine of Zanjan Province, Iran and were made use to conduct several interdisciplinary studies to answer the questions of this paper. As we may know, archeological findings are always exposed to destruction. The rate of destruction depends variably on the organic or mineral substances and materials, as well as the environmental factors. In the environments with saline soils like the archeological site of Chehrabad, the destruction rate makes it necessary to adopt a new approach for the study of destruction and protection of the data. Therefore, the six samples of the rock salt taken from this site were analyzed by XRF method and psychrometric tests. The results show that the different saline compositions and environmental conditions are effective in the protection or destruction of organic or mineral components. In addition, we concluded that the high purity of rock salt at this site (more than 99.5%) and the very low moisture content of the environment were involved in the mummification of the buried corpses immediately after they were buried and thus prevented the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms that were the cause of decay.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download