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The preservation process of soft tissues in an archeological context is mainly unknown because they occur only in truly exceptional situations. The Cova des Pas is a Bronze Age site in Minorca where the special conditions enabled the preservation of some soft tissues associated with 66 individuals. This finding allows the study of the preservation process that took place by means of the analysis of the histological and chemical characteristics of the tissues. Our results show that the preservation mechanism was the adipocere, because the fatty acids profile shows higher concentration of saturated than unsaturated fatty acids. The evidence indicates that the kind of funerary ritual and the environmental conditions favored this preservation.

Next-generation sequencing technologies have opened new opportunities in forensic genetics. Here, we assess the applicability and performance of the MiSeq FGx™ & ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit (Illumina) for the identification of individuals from the mass graves of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The main limitations for individual identification are the low number of possible first-degree living relatives and the high levels of DNA degradation reported in previous studies. Massively parallel sequencing technologies enabling the analysis of hundreds of regions and prioritizing short length amplicons constitute a promising tool for this kind of approaches. In this study, we first explore the power of this new technology to detect first- and second-degree kinship given different scenarios of DNA degradation. Second, we specifically assess its performance in a set of low DNA input samples previously analyzed with CE technologies. We conclude that this methodology will allow identification of up to second-degree relatives, even in situations with low sequencing performance and important levels of allele drop-out; it is thus a technology that resolves previous drawbacks and that will allow a successful approximation to the identification of remains., This study was commissioned by the Departament de Governació i Relacions Institucionals (Generalitat de Catalunya).

Objectives: Mummified nervous tissue is very rarely found in ancient remains and usually corresponds to corpses which were frozen or preserved in bogs, conditions which limit tissue autolysis and bacterial degradation. Here, we show the unusual finding of spontaneously mummified brain tissue from several individuals from the little known megalithic talaiotic culture of the island of Minorca, dating approximately 3,000 years before present and corresponding to the late Mediterranean Bronze Age. Methods: These individuals were part of an intact burial site containing 66 subjects. Intracraneal samples were carefully rehydrated with Sandison’s solution. We used classical histochemical as well as 2D and 3D (scanning) electron-microscopic techniques. Results: We provide evidence of the nervous nature of the samples as well as a detailed description of the morphological features of these ancient tissues. The intracranial material consisted of well-preserved eosinophilic reticular tissue and, although mostly absent, some exceptional pigment-containing neurons were identified. Conclusions: We present a detailed morphological analysis which can provide valuable information and guidelines for the interpretation of this scarce type of mummified samples and provide explanations for this surprising preservation.

The site from La Cova des Pas, located in Menorca, is a funerary cave with a collective burial dating from the Late Bronze Age. This cave presents a good conservation of the remains of both humans and other organic elements. In spite of the good preservation, the first DNA amplification tests showed a low amplification success rate, probably owing to the presence of substances from the process of decomposition of the bodies and substances of the soil present in the samples. To overcome this problem, 41 samples were processed by means of two different extraction methods, following sterility criteria used in ancient DNA research. Two fragments of different sizes of mitochondrial DNA were amplified in order to evaluate the success rate of both methods. The results did not show a statistically significant better recovery of DNA from either teeth or bones. For the length of the retrieved DNA, the recovery was significantly better with the QIAamp kit procedure than with the phenol–chloroform method.

Objective To analyze the bone lesions of the ear region from a late Bronze Age individual to establish the most probable diagnosis. Background There has been evidence of diseases of the ear region since way back in history, but few human remains have been recognized. The case presented here corresponds to an ear lesion from a prehistoric skeleton found in the archeological site of La Cova des Pas (900-800 cal yr BC), located on Minorca island, in the western Mediterranean. Methods Macroscopic and radiologic (iCT) analysis had been performed. Results The remains belong to an elderly female subject who had a large cavity on the tympanic cavity as a result of the complete erosion of the outer wall of the attic and a large increase in the diameter of the outer ear canal. The cavity extends posterior to the mastoid. Conclusion The diagnosis suggests a probable cholesteatoma, being one of the oldest cases in Europe.

The laboratory results from the mummy of a 25–35-year-old dult male (“Moses”/Q.445-2012) dating from the Middle Copic period (AD 4th to 8th century) are reported. This individual as recovered from the Coptic necropolis of Qarara in Middle gypt during the joint excavation performed by the Eberhard Karls niversitat, Tubingen (Germany) and the Egyptian Museum of arcelona in March 2012. Specimens obtained during the in situ autopsy were transerred to the mission laboratory (Sharuna/Middle Egypt) where tissue from the right hemothorax was processed with rehydration (modified Sandison method), fixation (48 h) and staining (hematoxylin–eosin). The histological slices revealed pulmonary tissue with solid deposits compatible with anthracosis (Fig. 1). Anthracosis is observed in mummies from all historical periods and geographical regions. The oldest Egyptian mummy with this histological diagnosis was described in 1938.1 The case of the Roman child mummy of Grotta-Rossa is interesting, and there are also Guanche

Despite many reports concerning processing of ancient soft tissues, scant attention has been paid to optimizing procedures for processing soft tissues that have been altered by taphonomic processes. To determine the best procedures, we investigated the rehydration solution, time of exposure to the solutions, fixative solution and exposure to heat. Processes were evaluated based on the minimum section thickness, degree of tissue fragmentation, definition of tissue architecture and penetration of stains. We found that in desiccated samples, tissue architecture was optimized by using Ruffer's solution for rehydration and Schaffer's solution as fixative, because these tissues require water restoration within the tissues due to their compacted character. Heating enhanced penetration of dyes in these specimens, which improved diagnosis. Saponified tissues that had suffered extensive decomposition were more labile and required slow water uptake. The best histological sections were obtained using Sandison's solution followed by fixation with formaldehyde and avoiding heat. To obtain the best results with paleohistological specimens, the procedure must be determined by the condition of the sample and by accounting for the nature of its damage.