Unveiling the female experience through adult mortality and survivorship in Milan over the last 2000 years.

This study challenges historical paradigms using a large-scale integrated bioarchaeological approach, focusing on the female experience over the last 2,000 years in Milan, Italy. Specifically, 492 skeletons from the osteological collection of Milan were used to elucidate female survivorship and mortality by integrating bioarchaeological and paleopathological data, paleoepidemiological analyses, and historical contextualization. Findings revealed changes in female longevity, with a notable increase from Roman to contemporary eras, albeit plateauing in the Middle Ages/modern period.

Papaver somniferum in seventeenth century (Italy): archaeotoxicological study on brain and bone samples in patients from a hospital in Milan.

In this paper, we present the results of toxicological analyses of preserved brain tissue and bone samples from the remains of the seventeenth century patients of the Ospedale Maggiore, the main hospital in Milan and one of the most innovative hospitals in Europe from the Renaissance period. Beneath it, the crypt functioned as the burial place for the deceased of the hospital. In this multidisciplinary study of the remains, toxicological analyses in particular were performed with HPLC-MS/MS on different biological samples from nine individuals.

Physical disability in Late Antiquity Milan: slipped capital femoral epiphysis with severe secondary joint disease in the Basilica of San Dionigi.

The paper presents the skeletal remains of an adult male of 30-40 years with bone lesions and deformity on the left hip, recovered during the archaeological excavation below the former Basilica of San Dionigi, dated to Late Antiquity (3 - 5 century AD) Milan. Biological profile and paleopathological analysis were performed following standard references and the bones underwent radiological examination. Differential diagnosis included congenital anomaly, active rickets, infectious diseases, femoral neck trauma, Legg-Carvé-Perthes disease, Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SFCE), osteogenesis imperfecta and osteoporosis.

A probable case of holoprosencephaly with cyclopia in a full-term fetus from a modern skeletal collection.

Objective: This study presents evidence of a probable case of holoprosencephaly with cyclopia, which has been rarely reported in the paleopathological literature.

Materials: The skeletal remains of a male fetus between 36 and 40 gestational weeks from the Collezione Antropologica LABANOF (CAL) Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection were studied.

Methods: The bones were macroscopically examined, and pathological anomalies were recorded and evaluated alongside paleopathological and clinical literature.

Genome-Wide DNA from Degraded Petrous Bones and the Assessment of Sex and Probable Geographic Origins of Forensic Cases.

The acquisition of biological information and assessment of the most probable geographic origin of unidentified individuals for obtaining positive identification is central in forensic sciences. Identification based on forensic DNA, however, varies greatly in relation to degradation of DNA. Our primary aim is to assess the applicability of a petrous bone sampling method in combination with Next Generation Sequencing to evaluate the quality and quantity of DNA in taphonomically degraded petrous bones from forensic and cemetery cases.

A modern documented Italian identified skeletal collection of 2127 skeletons: the CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection.

The CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection is a modern and continuously growing identified osteological collection of 2127 skeletons under study in the Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense (LABANOF) in the Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health of the University of Milan (Italy), and part of the Collezione Antropologica LABANOF (CAL). The collection presents individuals of both sexes and of all age groups with a high representation of the elderly and an interesting sample of infants. Each individual is associated with a documentation that includes sex, age-at-death, dates of birth and death, and a death certificate that specifies the exact cause of death and the chain of events that led to it (related pathological conditions or traumatic events).

Sex Assessment from the Volume of the First Metatarsal Bone: A Comparison of Linear and Volume Measurements.

Sexual dimorphism is a crucial characteristic of skeleton. In the last years, volumetric and surface 3D acquisition systems have enabled anthropologists to assess surfaces and volumes, whose potential still needs to be verified. This article aimed at assessing volume and linear parameters of the first metatarsal bone through 3D acquisition by laser scanning.

Effects of Cremation on Fetal Bones.

The charring process is a weak point of anthropological analysis as it changes bone morphology and reduces information obtainable, specially in fetuses. This experiment aims at verifying the conservation of fetal bones after cremation. A total of 3138 fetuses of unknown sex and age were used, deriving from legal and therapeutic abortions from different hospitals of Milan.