Actuality and originality in the scientific thought of Enrico Morselli (1852-1929).

Enrico Morselli, a student of Carlo Livi, offered an original contribution to psychiatry of his time through a plurality of interests and in-depth medical, biological, neurological, anthropological and sociological knowledge. From his writings, the relevance of his theoretical reflection under different aspects emerged: epistemological, methodological and psychopathological and of humanization of the treatment of the mentally ill.

Role of Radiology in the Assessment of Skeletons from Archeological Sites.

Radiology is an indispensable investigative tool for physical anthropologists and paleopathologists. Since its birth in 1895, X-ray has been useful in studying archeobiological finds. As a nondestructive technique of investigations, radiology allows for analysis of archeological finds without damaging them. Radiological investigations in anthropology are very important to assist: (1) reconstruction of biological profile (age at death, sex, stature, and ethnicity; (2) diagnosis pathological conditions, and life style (diet, physical stress, etc.); (3) interpretation of postdepositional process (diagenetic or taphonomic factors). We are sure that the importance of radiology in anthropology will continue to increase, and we confident that these disciplines will ultimately fuse and lead to the birth of a new professional branch of research: "Archeoradiology" or "Anthroradiology."

Radiology of Mummies.

In the past, autoptic examinations were usually performed for research. This type of examination, for obvious reasons, did not appeal to paleopathologists as these procedures potentially damaged the finds destined to musealization. Since the discovery of X-ray, radiology has been used to study mummies as a noninvasive technique. The radiology of mummies allows us to discover pathologies, to elaborate on the type of ritual mummification for the artificial embalming, to comprehend the diagenetic process that guaranteed a natural mummification, or to conclude anthropological identification. We present a review on the latest studies on mummies that have shown that the radiological approach has been essential to conduct research.

Biomechanical analysis of a femur fracture in osteoarchaeology: Reconstruction of pathomechanics, treatment and gait.

In paleopathology, biomechanics allows us to investigate traumas in ancient skeletal remains. The aim of our current research is to reconstruct pathomechanics, treatment and gait of an individual from a Late Medieval femur with evident bone callus. In particular, to reconstruct the dynamic of the trauma that caused the injury and the adopted therapeutic measures, taking into account medical knowledges of that time. The femur was recovered during the archaeological investigation in the Sanctuary of Sacro Monte, Varese (Northern Italy). Classical physical anthropological methods and CT scans were used for macroscopic and radiological measurements of the bone. Finally, the reconstruction of the static and dynamic functional outcomes of the lesion were performed by Observation Gait Analysis (OGA) procedure. The femur shows an important callus at the middle third proximal of the shaft. The antemortem fracture was oblique and caused by a direct trauma probably related to occupational activities. The alignment of the segments in the frontal plane lead us to assume that the fracture was treated and the femur was immobilized with splints. The overlap and the angle of the segments indicate that the subject was not submitted to traction or fracture reduction. Good bone remodeling and consolidation of the fracture suggest that the subject had gradually led to the resumption of load and walking, although with important effects on posture and movement. The use of the OGA allows us to highlight the subject's kind of gait after healing.

A foetal tile from an archaeological site: anthropological investigation of human remains recovered in a medieval cemetery in Northern Italy.

BACKGROUND: The recovery of foetal remains is very sporadic in archaeology, especially due the scarce degree of bone mineralisation. This paper presents the singular archaeological discovery of a foetal tile preserving the bone remains, object of our anthropological examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The foetal tile was discovered during an archaeological excavation in a medieval site (Northern Italy). The tile was analysed by CT scan and later, human remains were anthropologically examined. RESULTS: The archaeological investigation revealed a special ritual destined to foetuses while forensic anthropological analysis allowed estimating the gestational age near to 21-24 weeks.