Meet the Scientists ... who mummified Alan

In this Meet the Scientist event, members of the public will have an opportunity to meet the scientists behind the Channel 4’s award-winning documentary Mummifying Alan: Egypt’s Last Secret.

Archaeological chemist, Stephen Buckley, and Egyptologist, Joann Fletcher, supervised the mummification of taxi-driver Alan Billis who had donated his body for the purpose; a challenge which gave them a chance to prove, or disprove, some of their long-held theories about mummification.

Using the techniques that preserved Tutankhamun’s body after his death in 1323 BC was not an easy challenge, given that the Egyptian embalmers had several thousand years to develop and improve their techniques.

For the team, there were surprises and discoveries throughout, and this event offers an opportunity to find out more about those, and to ask the questions you can never ask when watching the television!

Dr Stephen Buckley is a Research Fellow in Biomolecular Archaeology in BioArCh at the University of York and is studying the materials used in ancient mummification. He has completed a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship entitled: ‘Evidence for the systematic use of antimicrobial and insecticidal natural products in ancient Egyptian burial practices’. His doctorate in archaeological chemistry from the University of Bristol was on the embalming materials used in ancient Egyptian mummification. He has been an archaeological chemist for excavations in the Valley of the Kings since 1993 being involved in Tomb KV39 and more recently Tomb KV35. He has also been associated with excavations in Yemen as part of the University of York's Mummy Research Group, and in the investigations of rare Roman mummies discovered on the outskirts of Rome, two Irish bog bodies, South American mummies and most recently mummies from Iran. He has, with Dr Joann Fletcher, also obtained funding from NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts) for a three-year collaborative project (E:SI Egyptology: Scientific Investigation) which will not only provide insights into Harrogate Museum’s Egyptian collection, resulting in a permanent display, but also has as part of its remit the engagement of young people in science.

Dr Joann Fletcher is a Research and Teaching Fellow at the University of York and is a member of BioArCh: the Centre for Biomolecular Archaeology is part of the University’s Mummy Research Group with whom she has excavated in Egypt and Yemen. She is also Egyptologist for Harrogate Museums and Arts and has worked with a number of museums in the UK and Europe. Her publications include Cleopatra the Great (Hodder & Stoughton/Harper Collins 2008) and The Search for Nefertiti (Hodder & Stoughton/Harper Collins, 2004), Egypt's Sun King: Amenhotep III (DBP, 2000), The Oils and Perfumes of Ancient Egypt (British Museum 1998) and several major guide books. As a consultant to the media she makes regular appearances on television, in addition to her work promoting archaeology in the Yorkshire region.

Admission: by free ticket only, available from yorkfestivalofideas.com/tickets