Non-destructive Palaeoproteomics Of Mummified Human Skin

Palaeoproteomic study of mummified human skin using a non-destructive sampling technique, based on mixed-bed chromatographic media stabilised on ethylene vinyl acetate membranes (“EVA”), which had previously been used exclusively on historical material, was successful in extracting ancient proteins from the surface of Ancient Egyptian mummies. We tested the method on a decontextualised fragment of skin and assessed the endogeneity of its metaproteome by comparison with a procedural blank. Furthermore, we retrieved and authenticated sequences of collagen and keratin from the mummy of a young woman (Supp. 16747 of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin) who lived and died between 2400 and 2200 BC, during the Old Kingdom of Egypt.