One of the stranger photosets in the LIFE archives was shot in a bucolic small town in Northern Italy—one in which the ancient architecture was not the only thing that was well-preserved.
The town’s name is Venzone, and among its claims to fame are a collection of mummified remains that date back as far as the 14th century, when a time of plague led to some bodies being kept in a church basement, where they mummified naturally. No one knows for certain why these bodies became mummified, though speculation centers on the presence of limestone and certain fungi in the basement.
But what is particularly interesting is not just that these mummies existed, but how the local townsfolk regarded them. Rather than being freaked out by these figures that would become horror movie staples, the townsfolk decided to celebrate the mummies as a connection to their own ancestry.
Here’s what the website Weird Italy had to say about the mummies of Venzone:
The residents thought that God had sent their forefathers to guard the village while still living (since they were unaware of the term “mummy” at the time). Then the locals wished the mummies luck and begged for assistance with any difficulties. As the village’s elders, the mummies were accorded excellent treatment. And this custom persisted up until 1950. The townspeople had to value the mummies as their forefathers.
The photos by LIFE’s Jack Birns capture the warm relations between the townsfolk and their mummified ancestors as they pose for photos together. Birns also photographed a museum where some of the mummies were on display. The ancestors are no longer paraded around town like they once were, but the museum remains open today, with five of the mummies available for viewing.
View of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle and the village of Venzone in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, September 1950.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man posed for a portrait with one of the mummified bodies displayed in the Cemetery Chapel of Saint Michael on the grounds of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Locals in Venzone, Italy, 1950, pose with the mummified bodies that had been found years before in the crypt of a church there.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A local woman held up one of the natural mummies found in the crypts under the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950. The mummified bodies date from 1348 to 1881.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A local woman held up one of the natural mummies found in the crypts under the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950. The mummified bodies date from 1348 to 1881.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man in Venzone, Italy, 1950, poses with a mummified body, one of many found in the crypt of the local church.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A priest held up one of the natural mummies found in the crypts under the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950. The mummified bodies date from 1348 to 1881.
Venzonea Skeletons
The townspeople of Venzone, Italy, posed with their mummified ancestors, 1950.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Local boys carried the natural mummies found in the crypts under the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, back into the crypt museum, September 1950. The mummified bodies date from 1348 to 1881.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Monsignor Simeone Guglielmi stood above the opening to one of the burial vaults under the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950. When the crypts were being relocated, the citizens of Venzone discovered that several of the bodies interred there had been naturally mummified.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The museum inside of the rotunda of Saint Michael displayed the natural mummies found in the crypts beneath the Cathedral of Saint Andrew the Apostle in Venzone, Italy, September 1950. The mummified bodies date from 1348 to 1881.
Jack Birns/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
