Pathology, Sex and Age Estimation to Decode the 4th Salt Mummy, the SaltMan in Zanjan, Iran

Salt-man No.4 is the 4th natural mummy discovered in the archeological excavation in Chehr-Abad salt mine located in the western Iranian city of Zanjan in 2005. The mummy was a complete body, fully clothed and with leather boots, a silver earring and a few gadgets such as a metallic knife, ceramic pots and an oil lamp. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the mummy dates back to Achaemenid era 330-550 B.C. Total coverage and clothing as well as anatomy of the mummy including its forearm, delicate fingers and lack of beard and mustache raised some questions about its gender. In the light of the physical status of the mummy at its burial time, the other question was the cause of its death. It was necessary to get information about physical conditions and the severity of the damage incurred to the mummy in order to take conservation and preservation measures. X-Ray radiography and CT scan revealed the gender of the mummy as being a 15 to 16-year-old boy who had died as a result of crushing caused by the collapse of heavy stones at the mine that buried him underneath. The sudden death was caused by multiple bone fractures (trauma) and heart compression and rupture as a result of crushing falling stones.