Major human remains exhibition in Mannheim

An exhibition of over 50 mummies opens today at the Mannheimer Museum (review: Die Zeit, 27.09.07 pp. 49-50). Titled Mummies – The Dream of Eternal Life, it contains mummified human remains from Egypt, Peru, Germany and New Zealand among other places.

The exhibition came about after the well-preserved remains of 19 people were found in the museum store, and rides a wave of public interest following the well publicized research on Ötzi and the successful touring of Gunter von Hagens’s Body Worlds exhibition.

I am particularly curious as to the origin of the New Zealand remains. The only complete mummified remains outside of New Zealand that I have been aware of are one individual in the collection of the Völkerkunde Museum in Vienna. The Die Zeit article refers to the remains in the plural however, and the Mannheimer Museum website describes these as tattooed heads.

germany human remains museums new zealandgermany human remains museums new zealand Published: 9.30.07 / 7pm
Tags: germany, human remains, museums, new zealand

1. brian 10.2.07 / 12pm

   Update: according to Wilfried Rosendahl of the Mannheim Museum, they have two Maori heads in the exhibition, both of which come from their own collection.