Maren is examined by conservator Hilde Skogstad in connection with the new medicine exhibition. Photo: Håkon Bergseth / The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
For around 20 years, a naturally mummified human has been on display at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology , in the medical exhibition. In August 2020, the mummy Maren traveled to her previous home, Rikshospitalet, to be examined. We hoped to find answers to many of the questions we and our visitors have been wondering about for many years.
Maren has been in a glass case since she was transferred from the National Hospital to the National Medical Museum , in the early 2000s.
New medical exhibition
The stand was opened as part of the work to renew the medical exhibitions at the museum. It provided a good opportunity to examine Maren, and the museum sought the help of experts from the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Rikshospitalet at Oslo University Hospital, to CT-scan Maren. Conservator Anne Håbu, had gone ahead of us on the trail in her work with the Cultural History Museum's Egyptian mummy, Dismutenibtes. The employees at Rikshospitalet had therefore come across a mummy before.
The project Skeletons in the cupboard has raised such issues: One day employees opened a cupboard in a warehouse - and there was a skeleton hanging on a peg. In another warehouse was a cardboard box on which was written in marker: "Fetal remains on alcohol - flammable!" Starting from the collection of human remains at the National Medical Museum/ The Norwegian Museum Of Science And Technology , we want to open up a discussion about how this material can best be handled; i.e. managed, researched and disseminated. What new questions, perspectives and understandings can the collection lead us to? The discussions we have had have been based on the gatherings. We also invited to an exhibition where we presented preliminary findings and insights into the project, and at the same time made it possible to draw an important and so far missing body into the discussion; museum users. Opinions about the human remains are divided. The vast majority want to show them off, while some are doubtful about it.
The technical conservators, Hilde Skogstad and Marianne Sjølie, examine Maren.
Photo: Håkon Bergseth / The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Ethical implications
As the museum now removes Maren from the display, we ask ourselves what is the right thing to do with her. What ethical considerations should we base our decision on when exhibiting human remains without explicit consent? Are human remains things? Do they have rights? Should The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology continue to display Maren? Is The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology ready to consider whether we should stop displaying a favorite among employees and visitors?
Natural mummification
Back to Maren, who has now been taken out of the mount. Her body is extremely well preserved. It has been through a special mummification process that turns body fat into a soapy substance, which has wrapped her in a type of body wax. This chemical process started when Maren was buried in a moist, alkaline and oxygen-free environment. The limestone in Oslo makes the groundwater alkaline and the fatty tissue in the body turned to wax instead of rotting.
Rare mummy
Although such naturally mummified bodies are not uncommon in cemeteries, Maren is one of only three such human remains to be found in a museum. The others can be found at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC and The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia.
A victim of cholera?
According to traditions based on oral sources, Maren was buried deep in the cemetery behind Jakob's church in central Oslo. At that time, the town was called Christiania [2] and the burial ground was called Ankerløkken cemetery. [3] There she was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, during construction work. Because of the place where, according to sources, she was buried and the depth of the grave, it is likely that Maren died during the cholera epidemic of the 1850s.
For the first time in about 20 years, Maren is out of the mount she is in at The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology . Photo: Håkon Bergseth / The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Who was Maren?
Questions about research and preservation Before we traveled with Maren to Rikshospitalet, we could not be quite sure whether she was a man or a woman, although we have always thought of her as a woman. There are no signs of male genitalia, but we could not be completely sure as it is an organ that we would imagine could weather quite quickly, - although most men might not agree with that idea.
Many questions
We also had a number of other questions: Who was she, and what kind of life did she lead? How long did she live, and what did she die of? Was she originally from Oslo, or did she move here from another part of the country - or the world? Does Maren's body dissolve further, and what methods are best to preserve her further? Are there any organs left in her body? Is a CT scan the best method to find answers to our questions, or should we also do an MRI? What other types of measurements and research does Maren use as a basis? In a specially made wooden box, she was now transported, as carefully as possible, to be examined with technological tools unknown to the world while she was alive.
What was revealed through CT and MRI scanning at Rikshospitalet?
We received good help at Rikshospitalet, and radiologist Kristian Fosså interpreted the results for us. The CT [4] scan gave solid results and radiographer Knut Bjørklund put together wonderful images of Maren. The MRI [5] scan yielded very little, as MRI needs hydrogen protons, which contain both water and fat, to produce images, and Maren's body was dry. This is good from a conservation perspective, as a lot of moisture is in conflict with conservation.
In a specially built box, Maren is transported to the National Hospital for examinations. The National Hospital's radiology experts, Kristian Fosså and Knut Bjørklund, took her to the right place in the hospital. Photo: Kathrine Daniloff/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Maren was a woman
CT showed us Maren's skeleton and several well-preserved organs. We got confirmation that Maren was a woman, since Fosså was sure to see female genitalia. CT also gave pretty good pictures of Maren's brain, heart and lungs.
Tuberculosis and bone fragility
Fosså thought the calcified structures around her lungs were an indication that Maren had had tuberculosis, but probably not what she died of. She has also had a nasty break in her arm (bottom left), which her body has tried to heal. Since it has not healed, but only built a lump of bone mass around the fracture, Fosså believed that she has not had the opportunity to let it heal. The fracture must have meant that she had poorer function in the elbow, but does not necessarily have to have caused her pain except with greater strain. Maren also has a fracture in her back, which could be due to a fall etc., but also due to brittle bones. The latter will probably also support the fact that she is somewhat older than 40 years.
Worn hips
From the museum's side, we were very excited about whether the radiological examinations could say anything about the life she had lived. Her back and knees did not show serious signs of wear, but her hips were very worn. What could that mean?
Fosså believed that she has had a condition in both hips called "avascular necrosis" and it has probably been painful in everyday life. The second most common cause of this is alcohol use, which was very high in the mid-1800s. Smoking is also a possible risk factor. Both smoking and alcohol use will probably also contribute to poorer healing of a fracture such as the one Maren had in her arm.
Few teeth
She has only nine teeth, which, in combination with the broken arm and the wear and tear on her hips, can be a sign of a poor background.
Some of the teeth were rotten, and although they may have decayed after death, there may also be indications of poor dental health.
There were no clear indications of her age, but based on the overall picture, Fosså was reasonably sure that she was neither under 20 nor over 50 when she died.
We also didn't know if the assumption that she died of cholera was true since CT scans can't show that.
Back in the assembly
Maren is now back at the museum, and we are waiting for the full written report and photos from the National Hospital. When we learn more, we'll post it here.
We are also in contact with physical anthropologists and geneticists to discover if there is more we can find out about her. Can we send off one of her teeth and expect to get more information? Can a DNA or isotope analysis give us information about where she grew up and also the cause of Maren's death? Was it actually cholera? If so, then we may be able to find out more about the specific strain of the bacteria and thus perhaps also understand cholera outbreaks both before and now better than today. However, such analyzes require intervention in Maren's body, and we must therefore have very good reasons to do so.
Photo: Kathrine Daniloff/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
Photo: Kathrine Daniloff/ The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology
The way forward
The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology will look at the historical city archives for more clues, while continuing to work on the conservation challenges.
A master's student from museology, Ingrid Kvalvik Sørensen, will write her thesis about Maren, and first conservator at the Medical Museum, Ageliki Lefkaditou will be her b-supervisor. What Sørensen writes will also contribute to how we relate to Maren.
Central to the museum's new medical exhibition
No matter what we have learned now, and what we will learn in the future, Maren will be with us for many years in The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology 's medical exhibitions. In fact, she will form the centerpiece of the museum's new medical exhibition, which is currently under development. Maren mirrors our own humanity, creates empathy and opens a window to the world she belonged to. How she will be displayed is still being discussed.
What would she herself have thought about all this, when she lived her life in Christiania, Kristiania or Oslo?
[1] The National Medical Museum is part of The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology .
[2] Read more about the name Christiania by clicking on the link
[3] Read more about Ankerløkken and burial grounds in the capital by clicking on the link
[4] Computer Tomography
[5] Magnetic Resonance Imaging
