The lost little girl: anthropological and paleopathological study of an Italian natural mummy of early 20th century

In 2000, during some renovation works in the monumental cemetery of Viareggio, a town in the province of Lucca (Tuscany, central Italy) the mummified body of a female infant was recovered. The individual was buried in anonymous burial recess, closed by a marble slab. In the archive cemetery the presence of the child in the chapel is not reported. The subject was investigated by macroscopic, conventional X-ray examination, and TC by a specialized team of the University of Pisa. The little girl, aged between 12 and 18 months, was wearing a precious silk robe, a cap on her head and handmade woollen shoes. The preciousness of garment suggests that the subject belonged to an elite family. The style of clothing is typical of the twenties of the 20th century. The good state of preservation of the body is the result of a rapid process of natural mummification. The head displayed a conspicuous bandage covering some incisions of the scalp. This type of surgical intervention was the attempted draining of the septic foci that had not, however, prevented the premature death of the little girl. No pathology nor trauma was observed on the rest of the body. X-ray and TC study confirmed the results of macroscopic investigation. This mummy is a significant clinical case of death resulting from septicaemia in the preantibiotic era. The Mummy will shortly be on display in the Museum of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Pisa