Mummy mystery solved: 'Air-dried' priest was embalmed via rectum

External appearance of the mummy from the ventral (A) and dorsal side (B) showing a completely intact body wall. Picture: Andreas Nerlich

The mystery of a mummy from an Austrian village has been solved, according to researchers who say it was embalmed in an unexpected way – via the rectum.

Intrigue had long swirled around the mummified body stored in the church crypt of St Thomas am Blasenstein. The remains were rumoured to be the naturally preserved corpse of an aristocratic vicar, Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg, who died in 1746 at the aged of 37, gaining the mummy the moniker of the “air-dried chaplain”.