The virtual autopsy performed on a uniquely preserved mummy of a Renaissance aristocratic boy allowed us to witness a short life, though privileged, that was far from perfect.
For most of human history, the chances of reaching adulthood were half at best. There are many reasons for this (many stem from a lack of understanding of germ theory and concepts such as not flushing directly into the river you use for drinking water), but these don’t tell the whole story. For a broader view, it’s best to examine some real-life historical ruins. A team of scientists from Germany had the rare chance to do such a study in the recent past.
The team performed a virtual autopsy, combining the latest technology and historical archiving techniques. Teeth and bone measurements revealed that the boy, like about a quarter of his contemporaries, did not exceed about a year old.
He was overweight for his age and had deformities of the ribs, often observed in diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies, such as rickets or scurvy, which are almost unheard of today in those with fortified milk and year-round citrus consumption.
Rickets is most commonly known as a disease that affects bones, making them soft and curved. One of the most stereotypical symptoms is a crooked-legged appearance. The little lord studied by the researchers did not have this symptom, perhaps too young to crawl or walk enough to develop this appearance, but he did have a more disease-related feature.
Rickets can significantly increase a child’s vulnerability to serious respiratory infections such as pneumonia. A 2010 hospital study found that children with rickets were more likely to have an acute respiratory infection than children without the disease. The boy’s virtual autopsy shows he was no exception: He apparently died of pneumonia-specific inflammation of his lungs.
All this provides a new look at the aristocratic idea of luxury and longevity, according to the researchers. Andreas Nerlich, professor of pathology at the Academic Clinic Munich-Bogenhausen and lead author of the new paper, said in a statement that “the combination of obesity with a severe vitamin deficiency can only be explained by an almost complete lack of sunlight combined with an overall ‘good’ nutritional status.” He said: “We must reconsider what we know about the living conditions of the high aristocratic infants of previous populations.” So it seems likely that many of the aristocratic babies of that time never saw the sunlight.
These discoveries came thanks to a CT scan. This would not have been possible had it not been for a rather unusual set of conditions that led to the natural mummification of the tiny body. While the riddle of why he died has been solved, little is known about who the boy was when he was alive.
There were mysteries about his identity to be solved. The boy was buried in a plain wooden coffin, in which his name was not written. In fact, this coffin didn’t even seem big enough for his body. He was the only one who was buried this way; all other tombs had elaborate metalwork, with the names of the deceased recorded to be remembered for posterity.
So maybe the small body didn’t belong to someone important enough to be remembered. He was also the only baby buried in the crypt. This crypt was used exclusively by the noble von Starhemberg family, a dynasty of imperial counts and princes that dates back to the 12th century.
Analysis of his clothes showed that he was wearing a long, hooded coat made of expensive silk inside his understated box. So, as Nerlich points out, a certain level of “special attention” could have been given.
While these clues seemed contradictory at first, when combined with radiocarbon analysis that dated the remains between 1550 and 1635 AD, they found a possible candidate for the boy’s identity. Reichard Wilhelm, the eponymous grandson of Count Reichard von Starhemberg.
“We have no data on the fate of the other babies in the family,” Nerlich said.
Learning the name and story of a long-dead child may seem like a small reward for so much scientific detective work. But it’s a result that the team believes can truly impact our relationship with our ancestors and their lives.
“This is just one case,” said Nerlich, and added: “But since we knew at the time that premature infant mortality rates were often very high, our observations could have a significant impact on whole-life remodeling of infants, even in higher social classes.”
The study was published in Frontiers in Medicine.
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