The Mummy of Rosalia Lombardo at the end of 2022: an update on the status quaestionis and a reflection on the level of evidence

In this communication we present key new evidence on the story of the famous Salafia embalming manuscript that further clarifies the genesis of a series of studies on this topic and corroborates our assumptions published in previous articles on this matter. In the second part of the paper, we provide a concise ethical analysis of Rosalia Lombardo’s case and try to establish a level of evi- dence in the assessment of her preservation by comparing facts and interpretations. Finally, we call for an independent assess- ment of the mummy’s state of preservation and the disclosure of the full content of the Salafia manuscript.

1. Samadelli M., Zink A.R., Roselli G., Gabrielli S., Tabandeh S., Fernicola V.C. (2019) De- velopment of passive controlled atmosphere display cases for the conservation of cultural assets. Journal of Cultural Heritage 35:145-153.
2. Nerlich A.G., Bianucci R. (2021) Mummies in Crypts and Catacombs. In: Shin D.H., Bia- nucci R.: The Handbook of Mummy Studies. New Frontiers in Scientific and Cultural Per- spectives; Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore, Pp. 750-751, 756-759.
3. Galassi F.M., Lanza T., Mattutino G., Sineo L., Nerlich A.G., Donell S.T., Bianucci R. (2021) The discovery of the Salafia handwritten manuscript and formula: chronological and bio- logical considerations. Archivio per l’Antropologia e l’Etnologia 151: 1-19.
4. Bianucci R., Donell S.T., Galassi F.M., Lanza T., Mattutino G., Nerlich A.G., Sineo L. (2022). The Ethics of Preservation of Scientific Data and Images of Cadavers to a Popular Audience: from the Salafia embalming method to the case of Rosalia Lombardo. Paleopa- thology Newsletters 198:26-30. 5. Bianucci R., Galassi F.M., Lanza T., Mattutino G., Nerlich A.G. (2022). What lies behind the embalmed body of Rosalia Lombardo (1918-1920)? Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology 126 (1): 5-13.
6. Squires K. & Piombino-Mascali D. Ethical Considerations Associated with the Display and Analysis of Juvenile Mummies from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, Public Archaeology, DOI10.1080/14655187.2021.2024742
7. DVD Italy’s Mystery Mummies National Geographic Explorer. Director: Ron Bowman, 2009 8. Piombino-Mascali D, Zink A.R. (2022) Alfredo Salafia’s handwritten memoir and the em- balming of Rosalia Lombardo: a commentary. https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/an- thranz/detail/prepub/101858/Alfredo_Salafias_handwritten_memoir_and_the_embalming_
of_Rosalia_Lombardo_a_commentary