Coffin From Civil War Uncovers Mystery

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(I wonder what kind of toxins they may be testing for???)

Coffin From Civil War Uncovers Mystery

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%

2F20050804%2F2206671543.htm & sc=1501 & ewp=ewp_news_0805war_coffin

WASHINGTON (AP) - The rusty iron coffin stubbornly resisted hammer

and chisel as researchers in a warm sonian laboratory sought a

glimpse of an American who lived more than a century and a half ago.

An electric drill, its orange cord snaking around the pre-Civil War

artifact, finally freed the lid.

``This is a person and we want to tell this person's story. She is

our primary obligation,'' anthropologist Doug Owsley said as the lid

was lifted to reveal a young body wrapped in a brown shroud.

The scientists hope to identify the remains so they can have a

properly marked grave. In the process, they have a chance to learn

about mortuary practices of the period, what disease and trauma

people may have suffered, their diet, past environments, clothing

and perhaps even social customs.

Based on the small size, they had expected the coffin to contain a

female body. On examination, it turned out to be a boy, about age

13.

The coffin was found in April by utility workers digging in

Washington.

Owsley, head of physical anthropology at the National Museum of

Natural History, said the body was well preserved. The young man

wore a shirt and vest, pants and drawers, all hand-sewn, as well as

a pair of socks. Only the socks appeared machine-made, Owsley said

Thursday.

``I think ultimately we'll be able to determine who he was and what

the cause of death was,'' he said. Owsley said the young man's right

lung had adhesions indicating an infection, possibly pneumonia, and

calcifications of the lymph nodes from infections.

The cast iron coffin was shaped a bit like an Egyptian mummy and is

of a type called Fisk style patented in 1848. This particular model

was popular in the early 1850s among the well-to-do, Owsley said.

Because they are sealed, cast iron coffins tend to yield well

persevered bodies. Indeed, the young person looked not unlike an

ancient mummy, even though he had not gone through the Egyptian

embalming procedures.

The Washington iron coffin was one of three opened this week in

Owsley's lab.

Two others are from a Caswell family cemetery near Kinston, N.C.

Their grave markers have been lost and the museum is helping the

family identify the remains - comparing them with family records -

so they can be reburied in newly marked graves.

Water had gotten into those coffins, causing the remains to

deteriorate.

Nonetheless, anthropologist Kari Bruwelheide said researchers had

identified two gallstones in one body that might have contributed to

death. The other showed no signs of sickness or trauma, said

Bruwelheide, a specialist in skeletons.

Both sets of remains were of middle-aged women. Both had dental

work, including gold fillings, and in one, a porcelain crown.

The Washington remains are in much better condition, with skin and

soft tissues intact. Researchers were using long cotton swabs to get

samples they could test for toxins and bacteria.

Human remains from burials are a rich source of information about

the past. Owsley's team has studied many of them over the years,

though only a few have been from cast-iron coffins, which were rare

and expensive.

On hand for the opening, in addition to Owsley's research team, were

scientists from other museum departments and students from East

Carolina State University.

After the Washington coffin was opened the body was carefully

removed for CT scanning. An autopsy will be performed.

On the Net:

National Museum of Natural History: http://www.mnh.si.edu

08/04/05 22:05