Conservation and Reassessment of an Overlooked Skeletal Collection Preserved Since 1901 at the Museum of Anthropology “G. Sergi”, Rome

Authors

  • Ileana Micarelli Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • Robert R. Paine Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • Mary Anne Tafuri Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • M. Elisabetta Aloisi Masella Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • Giorgio Manzi Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1973-9494/12788

Keywords:

museology, Castel Trosino, Longobards, bioarchaeology, osteobiography

Abstract

The osteological investigation of archived and historic skeletal collections can often provide clues to how they were organised and managed, offering key osteobiographical insight into past populations. A small, yet significant, collection of skulls housed at the Museum “Giuseppe Sergi” of the Sapienza University of Rome, remained anonymous prior to a recent reassessment protocol started in 2018. This collection was excavated from a funerary area discovered during the 19th century from the site of Castel Trosino (Ascoli Piceno, Italy). The cemetery was part of an important community during the Longobard domination of Italy, as testified by the richness of the cultural artefacts reported with the burials. The 19 skulls presented in this paper are the only ones available for assessment; all the others were lost shortly after the first excavation. Their importance is related to providing a better understanding of biological evidence of a community that lived in Italy during the Early Middle Ages.

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Published

2021-05-13

How to Cite

Micarelli, I., Paine, R. R., Tafuri, M. A., Aloisi Masella, M. E., & Manzi, G. (2020). Conservation and Reassessment of an Overlooked Skeletal Collection Preserved Since 1901 at the Museum of Anthropology “G. Sergi”, Rome. Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, 20(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1973-9494/12788

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