Die Wolfstein Mumien (16.-18. Jhd). - Untersuchungen an mumifizierten Körpern einer Gruft in Süddeutschalnd

The aristocratic Wolfstein family played an important role in the reformation process in Bavaria in the 17th and 18th century. The last male descendant, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Wolfstein, died in 1728 at the age of twelve and was entombed alongside his ancestors in a small crypt in Sulzbürg near Neumarkt/ Oberpfalz in Bavaria, South Germany. Due to the restoration of the crypt, the wooden and stannous cof­fins were opened and bodies of five adults and at least six children were found, partly skeletonized and partly mummified. All available material was subjected to a detailed macroscopic, radiological, histological and molecular investigation. To find out about the eating habits and migrarion background of the family, an analysis of stable isotopes was carried out (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen).
A concise examination of two mummified corpses revealed unilateral suspective calcifications in the pul­monary hilar region suggestive for tuberculose infections but turned out to be extensive anthracosis. An­cienc DNA analysis revealed that three samples taken from individuals from the last living generation car­ried Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Analysis of stable nitrogen- and carbon-isotopes showed a heavy decline of nutrition over time. According to these results, one can speak from a "fall" of the Wolfstein family.