Scientists to reveal mystery behind 163 child mummies

London: A British team of scientists are set to begin a two-year-long investigation into the child mummies of the Capuchin Catacombs found in northern Sicily. They will use X-Ray technology to peer into the mummified remains found in the corridors and crypts of the famous underground tomb.

Led by Dr Kirsty Squires, Associate Professor of Bioarcheology at Staffordshire University, the team will analyse the previously unstudied collection of child mummies housed in the underground cemetery. The Catacombs contain the largest collection of mummies in Europe, with over 1,284 mummified and skeletonised bodies dating from the late sixteenth to early twentieth century.

"The Capuchin Catacombs comprise one of the most important collections of mummies in the world. However, there is very little documentary evidence about the children who were granted mummification and the death records from the period contain limited information. Our study will rectify this knowledge gap," Kirsty Squires has said. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo are a cemetery built initially to bury monks of the monastery.