Paleopathology

During the Renaissance and Early Modern Age dissection began to be practiced for medico-legal
purposes, in order to investigate the causes of death. In particular, during the 15th century evidences of autopsies
performed by doctors on their private patients emerge. These dissections were requested by those families
who can afford the expenses, in order to search the possible presence of hereditary diseases and to predispose
a prevention and cure. The diffusion of this practice is attested also by the work of Antonio Benivieni (1443-
1502), who is considered a pioneer of the pathological anatomy. The extremely rich documentary archives
of the Medici family, one of the most important family of the Italian Renaissance, report several description
of necropsies carried out on the bodies of the members of the family. The analysis of these reports offers
important direct information on the autopsy practices performed by court surgeons of the members of an
aristocratic class in a period comprised between the 16th and the first half of the 18th century, and allows in
some cases also to propose a retrospective diagnosis on the diseases that afflicted the Medici. In this paper
the analysis will be focused on the evidences about autopsies carried out during the 16th century. An evolution
through time can be observed, as from the first very brief notes

The authors present a case of a probable Pott disease from central/southern Mexico, dated 300 BC to 500 AD. This case highlights the importance of iconotopsy/iconodiagnosis for a better description of the natural history of diseases, especially as a complement to morphological analyses of human remains (paleopathology) and laboratory exams (DNA or immunology testing).

As an interdisciplinary field that integrates historical, ethnographic, archaeological, and biological data, bioarchaeology is well positioned to contribute to understandings of the health of past peoples in their socio-cultural contexts. Recently, following a longstanding trend in archaeology, many bioarchaeologists have begun to productively engage with concepts of sex, gender, and to a lesser extent, sexuality, particularly in relation to issues of health and disease. In response, this review interrogatively and synthetically surveys recent bioarchaeological work on this nexus, querying how bioarchaeologists theorize sex and gender, how they operationalize these concepts relative to health and disease, and the relative merits of these approaches. Within this, the review focuses on studies addressing metabolic disease, trauma and violence, infectious disease, and overall health (e.g., frailty). Throughout, the review highlights how theoretically informed bioarchaeological data can be used to further elucidate the biosocial factors that shape past patterns of health. It also highlights the distinct insights generated from this scholarship, as well as the unresolved questions, methodological difficulties, and theoretical tensions facing it. The aim throughout is to give future scholars novel, social theory-informed, and operationalized theoretical frameworks and interpretive devices that can be used to answer these questions and resolve these conflicts within bioarchaeology.

In 2017, 3 Maja Street in Rzeszów underwent reconstruction. This work resulted in archaeological research carried out by the Foundation for Archaeological Centre in Rzeszów. Considering conducted discoveries, the skeleton cemetery at the parish church takes an important place. On its edge, 39 graves were discovered, with remains of individuals of different age, adults and children. What is more, numerous loose bones, randomly distributed among the skeletons were also found. At the church of the Holy Cross, three human burials uncovered. The bones underwent anthropological analysis, including the determination of number of buried individuals, their age, sex, and their general biological condition.

Key words: cemetery, skeleton, anthropology, Modern period, Rzeszów

"Neuzeitliches Skelettgräberfeld aus der Umgebung der Pfarrkirche in Rzeszów – erste Ergebnisse anthropologischer Forschung"

Zusammenfassung:
Auf dem erforschten Teil des neuzeitlichen Gräberfeldes auf dem Pfarrkirchenplatz (Plac Farny) in Rzeszów wurden 39 Gräber entdeckt. Alle dort freigelegten menschlichen Überreste konnten sogar 72 Individuen zugeordnet werden. Zahlreiche
Knochen wurden als lose Funde betrachtet und man kann nicht eindeutig feststellen, von wie vielen Individuen sie stammten. Die Gräber 31 und 36 stellten Knochenansammlungen dar, wobei jede von ihnen ca. 7 Verstorbene beinhaltete.
Sie wurden in den Gesamtanalysen nicht berücksichtigt. Die anthropologischen Untersuchungen wiesen auf, dass der Anteil der Kinder und Jugendlichen 56,90%, der Erwachsenen 41,38% betrug. Im Falle einer Person wurde das Alter nicht bestimmt (1,72%). Viele der verstorbenen Kinder waren jünger als 2 Jahre, zwei von ihnen waren vermutlich noch vor der Geburt tot (Fehlgeburten?). Der Prozentsatz der Todesfälle
im Bereich der Erwachsenen war in den einzelnen Altersklassen vergleichbar (für 7 erwachsene Individuen wurde das Alter nicht präzisieret). Das Geschlecht wurde für 21 Personen bestimmt (36,21%):10 weibliche, 11 männliche Individuen, darunter Kinder/Jugendliche. Es wurden kraniale Indexe gerechnet. Die Körpergröße der erstorbenen Individuen wich nicht von der durchschnittlichen Körpergröße der Bevölkerung Polens in der Neuzeit ab. Die auf den Tomogrammen sichtbare Schmelzhypoplasie und die Harris-Linien auf den Langknochen der Extremitäten zeugen von den Entwicklungsschwankungen, vielleicht infolge des Nahrungsmangels. Im Falle einiger Individuen stellte man Spuren von cribra orbitalia fest, was auf physiologischen Stress zurückzuführen ist. Bei vielen Individuen wurden kranke Zähne festgestellt; die Skelette mancher erwachsenen Individuen wiesen degenerativproduktive Veränderungen auf, die man in erster Linie auf das Alter zurückfuhren soll. Eine Person litt an einer heute nicht näher bestimmten Beschwerde, die sich als eine Deformation des rechten Fußes manifestierte. Festgestellt wurden auch einige während des Lebens der Verstorbenen entstandenen Verletzungen im Bereich des Brustkorbes (Rippen) und der oberen und unteren Extremitäten (geheilt und nicht geheilt).

The University of Innsbruck possesses a unique prehistoric, completely conserved 5300-year-old human cadaver. We report our experiences during which ENT specialists collected samples from various cavities inside the Iceman. Guidance of biopsy instruments was accomplished with computer-assisted navigation based on Interventional Video Tomography. This technology allows surgical guidance by interlinking currently available imaging modalities with live endoscopic video. The system operates without patient fixation and is practically free of external contact. Apart from sterility, special precautionary measures were necessary to avoid contamination with heavy metals or microorganisms. Visual inspection of the samples of mucosa from the nose, maxillary sinus and larynx revealed the typical patterns of a human cadaver without overt pathology.

During archaeological research at the site of the Neolithic settlement in Rzucewo in the years 1984 to 2005 small human bone material was found. It came from the useful layer, which was within the limits of two farm and residential structures. The material was collected together with animal bones. The remains belonged to a few people: four adults, two of them young, one of them might have been female and four children. One of them died at the age of infans I (0-6 years old), the rest died at the age of infans II (7-9 years old). Despite bad condition of the remains, distinct metabolic changes such as tooth enamel hypoplasia and porotic hiperostosis appeared. Inflammatory and degenerative conditions might suggest difficult living conditions. No damage suggesting cannibalism was found. At this stage it is extremely difficult to interpret the fact of finding both human and animal remains mixed together in the useful layer. It is worth mentioning that some graves were also found under the hats or nearby them. Yet, neither the bone material nor anthropological documentation survived. Additionally, people of Rzucewo culture is characterised by permanent settlement and using their residential area intensively. The bone material described above still does not explain the reasons for the human remains presence in the residential structures, but it tells a few words about difficult Neolithic seal hunters' living conditions.

Physical child abuse is only one of eight forms of recognized child abuse, but it is the only form that is capable of being diagnosed from the skeletal remains of past populations. Traditionally, this diagnosis is done through comparison of skeletal evidence of trauma to modern clinical records. Although clinical comparison is the standard in paleopathology, there are inherent issues with the application of this approach to child abuse diagnoses when considering cross-cultural contexts. The trauma manifested on bone is the result of social processes and, as such, is imbued with socio-cultural meanings specific to that population. Unfortunately, these social aspects, such as conceptions of childhood and parenting, are not considered in this typical framework. Thus, comparison to modern (predominantly American) clinical cases is inadequate in the study of child abuse in the past as it ignores cultural attitudes and differences in what constitutes improper or abnormal childcare. This poster outlines the inherent issues with paleopathological diagnoses of child abuse, turning to cultural anthropology in an attempt to find
appropriate ways to study and discuss violence against children in past populations.

Introduzione La stretta relazione esistente tra le patologie orali e l'alimentazione consente di ricavare importanti informazioni circa lo stile di vita e lo stato di salute di singoli individui e gruppi di popolazioni. Tale connessione ha consentito di effettuare un iniziale confronto su larga scala, sia a livello geografico che a livello temporale, delle patologie orali quali carie, difetti periapicali e denti persi intra-vitam. Materiali e metodi I dati sono stati ricavati analizzando un campione di 49.412 denti prelevati da 3.835 individui provenienti da 187 necropoli situate in diverse regioni italiane. Una volta rilevate le patologie orali quali carie, difetti periapicali (DIPA) e denti persi intra-vitam (AMTL), si è proseguito con il calcolo delle frequenze cumulando i dati su base geografica e cronologica. I dati hanno permesso di effettuare due tipi di indagini:-Analisi temporale per osservare la variazione delle frequenze delle patologie orali nel corso del tempo.-Analisi geografica per individuare l'esistenza di particolari trend a livello regionale nei diversi periodi storici. Le frequenze sono state riportate su grafici al fine di individuare e mettere in risalto da un lato le regioni laddove gli individui risultavano essere maggiormente affetti da patologie orali e dall'altro i periodi storici in cui questi fenomeni hanno colpito maggiormente queste stesse popolazioni. Risultati ANALISI TEMPORALE I risultati portano ad evidenziare tre fasi cronologiche distinte: 1. Durante tutto il Neolitico le frequenze restano piuttosto costanti. 2. A partire dall'Eneolitico si osserva un repentino aumento della frequenze della carie. Prende inoltre avvio una fase di alta variabilità che continua fino all'inizio dell'Età del Ferro, in cui le frequenze fluttuano molto anche in maniera piuttosto repentina. 3. Dalla seconda metà dell'Età del Ferro le frequenze si uniformano e si stabilizzano attorno a valori piuttosto alti. ANALISI REGIONALE Lo scorporamento dei dati su base regionale permette di analizzare con maggiore dettaglio i trend già emersi dall'analisi temporale. 1. Nel corso del Neolitico si attesta un'omogenea distribuzione delle patologie su tutta la penisola. 2. Tale condizione viene meno in corrispondenza dell'Eneolitico quando, sebbene con una certa variabilità regionale, si registra un improvviso aumento delle frequenze. 3. Nell'Età del Bronzo si registra, in varie regioni, un ridimensionamento dei valori delle frequenze e una riduzione dell'alta variabilità regionale evidenziata nel periodo precedente. Tale condizione persisterà anche durante l'Età del Ferro nonostante le frequenze subiscano un leggero aumento dei valori. Obiettivi Il presente studio si propone di individuare eventuali trend cronologici o geografici al fine di ottenere informazioni sulla distribuzione delle patologie orali e sulla qualità di vita delle popolazioni che occuparono il territorio italiano tra il Neolitico (VI-IV millennio a.C.) e l'Età del Ferro (900-300 a.C.). Conclusioni La spiccata biodiversità, che da sempre caratterizza la penisola italiana, avrà di certo avuto forti ripercussioni sulle abitudini alimentari-e conseguentemente le patologie orali-delle popolazioni che nel tempo si sono susseguite sul territorio. Le basse frequenze osservate durante il Neolitico, il loro incremento e l'alta variabilità registrati durante l'Eneolitico, potrebbero suggerire una tardiva introduzione della tecnica agricola nella penisola italiana. La stabilizzazione dei valori nelle epoche successive potrebbe, invece, testimoniare un lento adattamento della popolazione ad una nuova dieta ricca in carboidrati.