The History and Composition of the Identified Human Skeletal Collection of the Certosa Cemetery (Bologna, Italy, 19th–20th Century)

Belcastro, Maria Giovanna; Bonfiglioli, Barbara; Pedrosi, Maria Elena; Zuppello, M.; Tanganelli, Viola; Mariotti, Valentina

doi:10.1002/oa.2605

Cited by 43 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Their economy is based on different labors and specializations (agrarian, maritime, agricultural, urban). Contemporary humans are considered to have worn heavy leather shoes and boots (AMNH collection; Belcastro et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of mobility strategy on the modern human talus

Sorrentino

Stephens

Carlson

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: The primate talus is known to have a shape that varies according to differences in locomotion and substrate use. While the modern human talus is morphologically specialized for bipedal walking, relatively little is known on how its morphology varies in relation to cultural and environmental differences across time.Here we compare tali of modern human populations with different subsistence economies and lifestyles to explore how cultural practices and environmental factors influence external talar shape. Materials and Methods:The sample consists of digital models of 142 tali from 11 archaeological and post-industrial modern human groups. Talar morphology was investigated through 3D (semi)landmark based geometric morphometric methods.Results: Our results show distinct differences between highly mobile huntergatherers and more sedentary groups belonging to a mixed post-agricultural/industrial background. Hunter-gatherers exhibit a more "flexible" talar shape, everted posture, and a more robust and medially oriented talar neck/head, which we interpret as 171:456-469.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajpa reflecting long-distance walking strictly performed barefoot, or wearing minimalistic footwear, along uneven ground. The talus of the post-industrial population exhibits a "stable" profile, neutral posture, and a less robust and orthogonally oriented talar neck/head, which we interpret as a consequence of sedentary lifestyle and use of stiff footwear.Discussion: We suggest that talar morphological variation is related to the adoption of constraining footwear in post-industrial society, which reduces ankle range of motion. This contrasts with hunter-gatherers, where talar shape shows a more flexible profile, likely resulting from a lack of footwear while traversing uneven terrain.We conclude that modern human tali vary with differences in locomotor and cultural behavior.footwear, Homo sapiens, subsistence strategies, talus

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of mobility strategy on the modern human talus

Sorrentino

Stephens

Carlson

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The sample consists of 981 adult skeletons of individuals from two identified (for sex and age at death) modern (20th century) Italian and Portuguese skeletal collections, both belonging to low social level classes from preindustrial societies: the Sassari Collection (SS; Sardinia, Italy) and “Colecção de Esqueletos Identificados” (CMB; Museum of Anthropology, University of Coimbra, Portugal; Belcastro et al, ; Belcastro et al, ; Bocquet, ; Cunha & Umbelino, ; Rastelli, ; Rocha, ; Santos, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in epiphyseal fusion and persistence of the epiphyseal line in the appendicular skeleton of two identified modern (19th–20th c.) adult Portuguese and Italian samples

Belcastro

Pietrobelli

Rastelli

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: The aim of this work is to study age, sex, and population variations in epiphyseal fusion and persistence of the epiphyseal line in the appendicular skeleton of two identified modern (19th-20th c.) adult skeletal samples, using a specifically designed macroscopic scoring method. The use of epiphyseal closure and persistence of the epiphyseal line as an adult-age marker is also discussed. Materials and methods: This study examined 981 adult skeletons of both sexes from two identified modern (20th c.) skeletal samples from the Sassari Collection (Museum of Anthropology, University of Bologna, Italy) and the Colecção de Esqueletos Identificados (Museum of Anthropology, University of Coimbra, Portugal). Our scoring method considers a five-degree scale, from nonfusion (Degree 0) to complete fusion (Degree 4). In addition, the persistence of the epiphyseal line, a feature that is not commonly collected during routine anthropological analyses, is taken into account here as Degree 3.Results: Intra-and interobserver errors of 1.2% and 5.2%, respectively, were found, suggesting a good reproducibility of this scoring method. Some sites show variable degrees of epiphyseal fusion still in adult skeletons (e.g., secondary center of ossification of the clavicle, iliac crest, ischial tuberosity, distal epiphysis of the radius and ulna).Conclusions: Population differences have been observed, showing a delay in the complete epiphyseal closure for the Sassari sample compared to the Coimbra sample.Degree 3 seems to be a good adult-age indicator for individuals less than 35-year-old.

show abstract

“…The populations we examined consist of individuals who lived in Italy between 1814 and 1922, and died between 1898 and 1944. The samples used in this study belong to two collections, the Certosa collection and the Sassari collection (Belcastro et al, 2017;Facchini, Mariotti, Bonfiglioli, & Belcastro, 2006). In the Certosa collection the cause of death and occupation are known for over 90% of the individuals, additionally over 90% of the individuals were born in the Bologna province.…”

Section: Populations and Skeletal Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex estimation in cranial remains: A comparison of machine learning and discriminant analysis in Italian populations

Pozzi

Raffone

Belcastro

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives:Using cranial measurements in two Italian populations, we compare machine learning methods to the more traditional method of linear discriminant analysis in estimating sex. We use crania in sex estimation because it is useful especially when remains are fragmented or displaced, and the cranium may be the only remains found. Materials and Methods:Using the machine learning methods of decision tree learning, support-vector machines, knearest neighbor algorithm, and ensemble methods we estimate the sex of two populations:Samples from Bologna and samples from the island of Sardinia. We used two datasets, one containing 17 cranial measurements, and one measuring the foramen magnum. Results and Discussion:Our results indicate that machine learning models produce similar results to linear discriminant analysis, but in some cases machine learning produces more consistent accuracy between the sexes. Our study shows that sex can be accurately predicted (> 80%) in Italian populations using the cranial measurements we gathered, except for the foramen magnum, which shows a level of accuracy of ~70% accurate which is on par with previous geometric morphometrics studies using crania in sex estimation. We also find that our trained machine learning models produce population-specific results; we see that Italian crania are sexually dimorphic, but the features that are important to this dimorphism differ between the populations. 2

show abstract

The History and Composition of the Identified Human Skeletal Collection of the Certosa Cemetery (Bologna, Italy, 19th–20th Century)

Cited by 43 publications

References 42 publications

The influence of mobility strategy on the modern human talus

The influence of mobility strategy on the modern human talus

Variations in epiphyseal fusion and persistence of the epiphyseal line in the appendicular skeleton of two identified modern (19th–20th c.) adult Portuguese and Italian samples

Sex estimation in cranial remains: A comparison of machine learning and discriminant analysis in Italian populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About