'Find of century' for Egyptology...

[The Don]

Egyptologists say they have identified the 3,000-year-old mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt's most powerful female ruler.



Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass made the official announcement at a packed news conference in Cairo.

It is being billed as the biggest archaeological find in Egypt since the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb.

Archaeologists hope the mummy, which has lain unrecognised for decades, will yield clues about the mystery of her death and subsequent disappearance.

Mr Hawass has set up a DNA lab near the museum with an international team of scientists to verify the identification.

The study was funded by the US television channel Discovery which is to broadcast a documentary on the subject in July.

An important piece of the evidence is said to be that the mummy has a missing tooth, and the gap matches exactly an existing relic, a preserved tooth engraved with Hatshepsut's name.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/middle_east_enl_1182941182/img/1.jpg


Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6244516.stm)

[del]

Interesting, but I just wonder how will they be able to use DNA verification on a 3000 years old mummy while they can't use it on a new born without a DNA sample from the parent(s). Don't they need a real DNA sample from the original Hatshepsut?

[The Don]

DNA samples from nails and hair are enough to HELP along with history of the surrounding evidences, help to determine the identity of that mummy to be "Hatshepsut". If that was a DNA sample alone, i am not sure if they could identify it.

[Yudi]

Interesting, but I just wonder how will they be able to use DNA verification on a 3000 years old mummy while they can't use it on a new born without a DNA sample from the parent(s). Don't they need a real DNA sample from the original Hatshepsut?

So true, and they don't have the parent's so there is nothing to compare it

[happylark]

with some magic tricks they will come with an identification somehoe and no body can or will argue with them
happylark

[del]

yep... and after 30 years they'll come back and say, "opps: we were wrong" . Good thing that Hatshepsut is dead, otherwise they would have made him pay child support for 30 years!!!!!