When people think about possible Independent Study topics, studying mummies generally doesnít make the cut. For biochemistry and molecular biology major and art history minor Kimberly Krall í10, however, this opportunity was only a building away.
In Ebert Art Museum, there is a mummyís coffin that was donated years ago to the College. The coffin is originally from Akhmim, Egypt ó a town situated along the bank of the river Nile. So how did the mummy come into the picture?
In 2005, the College had a cleaning attempt on the coffin, which had been in a fire in 1905. ìI had talked to Dr. Edmiston, my advisor, about it my sophomore year when I was thinking of topics. He mentioned it,” said Krall. ìEver since, it had always been in the back of my mind, so I explored it for my Junior I.S.”
The title of her Junior I.S. was called ìThe chemical analysis of Egyptian pigments found on a Wooster coffin.” This year, Krall incorporated her Junior I.S. into her Senior I.S. and expanded her research. A title for her Senior I.S. is a work-in-progress at the moment, but the main idea of her project is to explore the chemical analysis of the paint on an Egyptian coffin.
So far Krall has undergone analysis of the ìmake-up” of the coffin with Dr. Paul Edmiston, associate professor of chemistry. Krall has also been working with Director and Curator of The College of Wooster Art Museum Kitty† Zurko.
Krall and Zurko have taken fragments from both the exterior coffin surface and interior cartonnage wrappings. ìI got my samples the first Friday of school in fall of 2009. I started the analysis the following week,” said Krall. ìI only work with small fragments that I get to use as samples. Iíve only seen the coffin once before.”
The samples are used for Krallís analysis. Two techniques were used ó infrared spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy, which determines the organic and inorganic substances within the paint. The preference was to take samples of red and green paints due to the fact that these paints are most abundant within the decorations. Now Krall is testing a yellow and white sample.
ìIím looking at this coffin because they used water with cotton swabs in their attempt to clean it. The whole reason they wanted to know what these paints were made of is because pieces of the cotton swabs were sticking and the paints were absorbing the water,” said Krall. ìIf they had kept going, then the water would possibly have ruined the coffin.”
The purpose of the analysis is to find out what is in the paint, not what is best to clean it with. ìThe next thing that I could figure out is the cleaning process. I might seek a plan to go about cleaning it, or I might leave it for another student to do for their I.S.,” said Krall. ìIt takes a lot of time and research.”
So far Krall, with the help of Edmiston and Zurko, has been able to tell that when the Egyptians made the coffin, they used three layers ó a primary layer they used to paint, equivalent to how some may use a white layer of paint as a primer; and the second and third layers mixed together as a binding adhesive and a pigment.
Krall will only be using a Powerpoint slideshow and posters to aid her I.S. presentation. The coffin will be kept in its current location. Students interested in the final outcome of Krallís research can attend her presentation on Feb. 23 in Severance, at a time and location to be announced.