Considerações sobre a antropologia forense na atualidade / Considerations on nowadays Forensic Anthropology

Os desenvolvimentos recentes na Antropologia Forense que tentam fazer face aos novos desafios societais justificam a análise que é aqui feita. Partindo das atribuições da antropologia forense especificadas há já mais duma década, são criticamente revistos os principais avanços metodológicos e conceptuais assim como as áreas em que é mais difícil implementar mudanças. Para que a Antropologia Forense se mantenha na linha da frente das ciências médico-legais e forenses é determinante que acompanhe as mudanças da sociedade global atual e que saiba desenvolver investigação aplicada e direcionada aos grandes desafios.

The most recent forensic anthropology developments, which try to address the societal challenges, justify the analysis that is here provided. Starting with the attributions of forensic anthropology specified more than one decade ago, the most relevant methodological and conceptual advances, as well as the areas in which changes are difficult to implement, are critically evaluated. It is argued that, in order to keep forensic anthropology at the front line of medico-legal and forensic sciences, this science has to be able to follow the changes of our global society by conducting research directed to the new challenges.

Diptera Brachycera found inside the esophagus of a mummified adult male from the early XIX century, Lisbon, Portugal

Fly puparia and adult fragments of diptera muscid were found inside the esophagus of a mummified body from the early XIX century, buried inside the crypt of the Sacrament Church (Lisbon, Portugal). The identification of the material revealed a monospecific colonization by Ophyra capensis (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Muscidae), a species known to invade corpses in the ammoniacal fermentation wave. This species can be found in corpses kept indoors, not available to the early waves of blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae). In the present case, the number of pupae and their developmental stage suggest that the female invaded the mummified corpse through the partially opened mouth and the oviposition took place directly inside the esophagus. This is the first case of O. capensis infesting internal organs of an intact corpse. The use of chemical products for the embalming process probably explains why external colonization did not occur.

The girl from the Church of the Sacrament: a case of congenital syphilis in XVIII century Lisbon

Syphilis is a sexually or congenitally transmitted infectious disease with an impact on the health of human populations that has undergone important cycles in different countries and periods of history. Its presence was first diagnosed in Europe in the late XIV century. In Portugal, although there are various written records of the infection in the last centuries, there are rare references to it in archeological findings (mummified bodies are also rare in Portugal). The current study describes a probable case of congenital syphilis in an 18-month-old girl buried in the Church of the Sacrament in Lisbon. Her body, dating to the XVIII century, was found mummified together with dozens of others, still not studied. Symmetrical periostitis of the long bones, osteitis, metaphyseal lesions, left knee articular, and epiphyseal destruction, and a rarefied lesion with a radiological appearance compatible with Wimberger's sign all point to a diagnosis of congenital syphilis. The diagnosis of this severe form of the infection, possibly related to the cause of death in this upper-class girl, calls attention to the disease's presence in XVIII century Lisbon and is consistent with the intense mobilization at the time in relation to the risks posed by so-called heredosyphilis. It is the first case of congenital syphilis in a child reported in archeological findings in Portugal, and can be correlated with other cases in skeletons of adults buried in cemeteries in Lisbon (in the XVI to XVIII centuries) and Coimbra (XIX century). Finally, this finding highlights the need to study the entire series of mummified bodies in the Church of the Sacrament in order to compare the paleopathological findings and existing historical documents on syphilis, so as to expand the paleoepidemiological knowledge of this infection in XVIII century Lisbon.