Dermatological examination of the Qilakitsoq Eskimo mummies

Abstract

The skin was mainly well preserved with intact surface relief and normal histological appearance. Two small keratotic papillomas on a finger of a young woman were histologically compatible with common warts. In a fifty-year-old woman the hair of the crown was extremely sparse and the breasts were atrophic. A virilizing tumour of the ovary may have been the cause. The fingernails of two women showed marks from work, and in two persons the toenails were thickened, presumably because of insufficient shortening.