{"id":78525,"date":"2024-06-13T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museoscienze.vda.it\/focus\/marmotta-lyskamm\/"},"modified":"2024-10-09T17:16:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-09T15:16:53","slug":"marmotta-lyskamm","status":"publish","type":"focus","link":"https:\/\/museoscienze.vda.it\/en\/focus\/marmotta-lyskamm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lyskamm Marmot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Who is the Lyskamm marmot?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The scientific world is particularly interested in the finding of a marmot mummy that resurfaced from theLyskamm glacier in the summer of 2022. It is believed to be the oldest mummified remains in Italy.According to radiocarbon dating it is geologically from the Middle Holocene (about 6,600 years ago) and, inrelation to humans, it is placed in the Neolithic period (4,691-4,501 BCE).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The discovery<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Climate change is revealing the past.<\/strong>
Climate change is causing a progressive and rapid deterioration of the Alpine ecosystem. This is bringing about a re-emergence of an ancient and remote past life that has been preserved for millennia in glaciers. One of these valuable discoveries is the Lyskamm marmot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marmot Mummy Project<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Observing the mummy from a scientific perspective.<\/strong>
Mummies provide a wealth of opportunity for scientific investigation and are living reminders of the past. Studying them using modern technologies enables us to obtain important data to reconstruct the history of a living being and its habitat.
The purpose of the Marmot Mummy Project<\/em> has been to research the Lyskamm mummy and to explore and investigate the many aspects relating to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The conservation container<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The importance of conserving the remains in a stable setting.<\/strong>
A specially designed case will house the mummy for over 500 years. Inside there is no oxygen present, and the chemical-physical parameters can be adjusted and calibrated to stop deterioration. It operates entirely eco-sustainably and without the need for electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Italy\u2019s oldest mummy<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Finding a mummy is a rare and valuable discovery.
Traces of animal and plant life, especially of mummified remains, provide insight into the creation and transitions of ecosystems over time and their progression through eras, periods and geological epochs.
The Lyskamm marmot is the oldest mummy in Italy and a unique animal from the Holocene, a period of ongoing geological evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What distinguishes a marmot from the past
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The Alpine marmot: not a highly varied genome<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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An international team of researchers studied the genome of the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota<\/em>) to ascertain the influence of climate change on its genetic diversity.
The results demonstrated that the DNA of the species has changed little and only slowly<\/strong> and that, despite this, the marmot managed to survive the ice age. This is exceptional in the animal kingdom since low genetic variability is associated with a high risk of extinction (as happened with the mountain gorilla, the Arctic polar bear and the Iberian lynx).
This leads us to conclude that today\u2019s Alpine marmot is very similar to the one of 6,600 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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X-ray of the marmot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Natural and artificial mummies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The word mummy refers to any human or animal remains that still preserve their soft parts such as cartilage, muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mummy is generated when the decomposition process by microorganisms is prevented by natural causes (a natural mummy) or by humans through the use of chemical substances or by placing the body in an environment that favours mummification (an artificial mummy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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