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The Birmingham mummy: the first torticollis in history

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Ahmes L. Pahor  and
John Cole
Ahmes L. Pahor*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham, UK
John Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Ahmes L. Pahor, M.A., F.R.C.S., D.L.O., D.H.M.S.A., Consultant ENT Surgeon, ENT Department, City Hospital, Dudley Road, Birmingham B18 7QH.
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Abstract

The Birmingham Mummy is of a warrior, 25–35 years of age, from the Graeco-Roman period. He was struck from the front by an arrow, which penetrated the soft tissues of the neck to some depth and lodged in the right infratemporal fossa. It is suggested that the wound became infected and that muscle spasm induced the torticollis which was not fully corrected on mummification.

Keywords

MummiesTraumaNeckTorticollis
Type
Historical Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 109 , Issue 4 , April 1995 , pp. 273 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1995

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