Conference Presentations by Valentina Mariotti
Introduction: Activity-patterns, not specifically occupation, have been widely studied using chan... more Introduction: Activity-patterns, not specifically occupation, have been widely studied using changes to the bony imprints of tendons on bone (entheses). However, it has been demonstrated that ageing has the strongest effect on the presence of these entheseal changes (ECs). In a prior test of the Coimbra method for recording ECs, the clear detection of age effects was problematic due to the small sample size (n=31) and low variability in ECs (Henderson et al., 2013). The method has recently been revised and the aim of this study is to test the effects of age on ECs scored with the “new Coimbra method” (Henderson et al., 2015) using a larger sample.
Materials and Methods: Labourers, the largest single occupation group represented (n=60) in the Coimbra collection, were recorded using the “new Coimbra method” ( ibid.). Age ranged from 16 to 96 and all were male. Three entheses were recorded: subscapularis and biceps brachii insertions, and the common extensor origin. Boxplots were used to visualise the data. Asymmetry and the effect of age were calculated (Henderson et al., 2013).
Results: Mean values of age for each feature score indicate an increase in age for higher scores, except for fine porosity and textural change, which show the opposite trend. Mean ages are more dispersed on the right side, compared to the left. Asymmetry tests for the labourers indicate that the majority have equal scores for features on the right and left sides.
Discussion and Conclusions: Age is the most important factor in increasing scores for bone formation, erosion and macropores, whereas fine porosity and textural change are most commonly found in younger individuals. Sample size is still small, given the large number of features recorded for each enthesis and lack of variability in the scores. Larger samples are needed to understand the relationship between EC features and age.
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The Coimbra Method records qualitative changes at fibrocartilaginous entheses using specific feat... more The Coimbra Method records qualitative changes at fibrocartilaginous entheses using specific features scored separately at the margin and on the entheseal surface. These features include porosity (fine and macro), bone formation, erosion, and cavitations. Initial tests of interobserver error in 2010 showed overall percentage agreements around 70%, but agreement on specific features such as bone formation and fine porosity were lower (52.5% - 61.9%), and the variability between observer pairs was high (65.3-78.1%).
On-line consultations between the international collaborators to refine feature definition with the aim of decreasing interobserver error rates had limited success. Percentage agreement between four observers eventually improved to 85.8% and 77.9% for the
subscapularis and common extensor origin, but only after intensive in-person collaboration and discussion. Difficulties included: 1) poor representation of features using photographs for
training; 2) lack of a common understanding for descriptive terms even among experienced osteologists; 3) differences in visual acuity; 4) small changes in observer conditions such as lighting at different times of the day; and 5) the need to retrain together on each enthesis. The problems we encountered have implications for many types of qualitative scoring methods currently being used and compared across studies to draw broad conclusions in bioarchaeology. Even with seemingly clear descriptions and illustrations, it is likely that interobserver error rates are substantially higher than the published error rates between
researchers who have not undergone intensive, collaborative training. While many osteologists recognize this difficulty, we suggest that the extent of the problem has been significantly
underestimated.
This research was supported by Wenner-Gren Foundation (grant number Gr. CONF-632), CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, and CRIA - Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia.
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Papers by Valentina Mariotti
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2015
Communication avec acte sous presseCommunication avec acte dans un congrès internatiànal, dans Ea... more Communication avec acte sous presseCommunication avec acte dans un congrès internatiànal, dans Early Farmers: The View from Archaeology and Science, A. White and P. Bickle (eds
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All'Insegna del Giglio eBooks, 2010
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All'Insegna del Giglio eBooks, 2010
Nel contributo emergono aspetti della ritualit\ue0 funeraria in epoca celtica attraverso lo studi... more Nel contributo emergono aspetti della ritualit\ue0 funeraria in epoca celtica attraverso lo studio di lesioni scheletriche riconducibili ad interventi peri mortem e post mortem
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Il rapporto tra l\u2019uomo e la morte \ue8 cambiato nel tempo ma, mentre per le epoche protostor... more Il rapporto tra l\u2019uomo e la morte \ue8 cambiato nel tempo ma, mentre per le epoche protostoriche e storiche la presenza di documenti scritti amplia la possibilit\ue0 di interpretare i rinvenimenti archeologici, fornendo un quadro culturale di riferimento nel quale ricercare informazioni sulla concezione della morte, nella preistoria, e soprattutto prima che i contesti funerari siano chiaramente riconoscibili con la scoperta di vere e proprie sepolture (intorno a 200,000 anni fa), la documentazione disponibile \ue8 costituita essenzialmente dai resti scheletrici umani. Quindi il contributo dell\u2019Antropologia fisica in questo contesto assume particolare rilevanza per la possibilit\ue0 di fornire dati su eventuali interventi intenzionalmente praticati peri mortem o post mortem (smembramento, scarnificazione, accumulo di ossa, ecc.) in un\u2019ottica paleoepidemiologica che tenga quindi conto del profilo biologico (et\ue0 alla morte, sesso) dei resti esaminati. Un altro aspetto \ue8 quello relativo alla possibilit\ue0 di fare luce e anticipare, rispetto a quanto noto e per ampi contesti geografici e temporali caratterizzati da nicchie ecologiche diverse, la comparsa di comportamenti che possono apparire del tutto inediti nonch\ue9 anomali, in quanto non codificati ed estranei ai sistemi socio-culturali di riferimento. Alcune pratiche segnalate per la lontana preistoria si ritrovano infatti anche in epoche successive in ambiti anche molto diversi. Dal punto di vista metodologico la documentazione relativa ai resti scheletrici umani assume pari rilevanza rispetto a quella di altre discipline (e.g. etnologiche e storiche) fornendo, pur senza procedere per analogie forzate e attraverso semplificazioni statistiche, suggestioni, modelli e confronti per l\u2019interpretazione dei contesti archeologici
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All'Insegna del Giglio eBooks, 2010
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Vengono presentati i risultati di ricerche per la diagnosi retrospettiva di infezioni da antichi ... more Vengono presentati i risultati di ricerche per la diagnosi retrospettiva di infezioni da antichi patogeni quali Yersinia pestis, Leishmania infantum a Plasmodium falciparum in resti scheletrici umani
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I contesti archeologici rappresentano un ambito di studio e di confronto tra Antropologia ed Arch... more I contesti archeologici rappresentano un ambito di studio e di confronto tra Antropologia ed Archeologia nella ricostruzione di comportamenti funerari (individuali, occasionali, non sanciti da regole o invece saldamente normati dalle comunit\ue0 di riferimento) nelle societ\ue0 del passato. La loro interpretazione tende ad individuare scenari dicotomici (o alternativi): sepoltura o sua assenza, sepoltura normale o anomala (atipica, non convenzionale, deviante, ecc.) facendo assumere alle prime opzioni dei termini una valenza positiva in contrapposizione ad una negativa per le altre, esprimendo quindi, da una parte benevolenza, attenzione, partecipazione, dall\u2019altra rifiuto, punizione, alienazione da parte delle comunit\ue0. Per fare ci\uf2 \ue8 necessario condividere il significato di sepoltura da cui discendono e si definiscono gli aspetti interpretativi. Il vasto e diversificato repertorio dei contesti funerari nel tempo (talvolta anche in un lasso breve) e nelle diverse aree geografiche (talvolta anche in luoghi vicini) sottolinea la complessit\ue0 nella lettura e nell\u2019interpretazione dei comportanti ad essi associati che deve tenere in considerazione, oltre che fattori di ordine socio-culturale, religioso, economico anche quelli di ordine biologico, demografico, climatico e ambientale a sottolineare il ruolo dell\u2019interazione (\u2018nicchia ecologica\u2019) tra le comunit\ue0 umane e l\u2019ambiente nelle manifestazioni funerarie. Vengono qui presentati due casi: la necropoli romano-imperiale (I-III sec. d. C.) della Nuova Stazione dell\u2019Alta Velocit\ue0 di Bologna e quella tardo-antica (V-VI sec. d. C.) di Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna), scavate dalla Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell\u2019Emilia Romagna (la prima tra il 2004 e il 2007; la seconda tra il 1989 e il 1997) in cui indagine archeologica e antropologica congiunte hanno consentito di sondare i temi del significato di sepoltura e di sepoltura anomala (oggetto di una specifica giornata di studi svoltasi a Castelfranco Emilia nel 2009) raccogliendo suggestioni, riflessioni e ricerche sui contesti funerari attraverso un approccio metodologico integrato
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All'Insegna del Giglio eBooks, 2010
Vengono presentati dati antropologici relativi a nuovi studi di crani di epoca medievale (VIII-X)... more Vengono presentati dati antropologici relativi a nuovi studi di crani di epoca medievale (VIII-X) della cattedrale di San Pietro in Bologna che presentano fori riconducibili all'infissione di chiodi peri mortem
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Dall\u2019esame paleopatologico degli scheletri provenienti dalle necropoli altomedievali (VI-VII... more Dall\u2019esame paleopatologico degli scheletri provenienti dalle necropoli altomedievali (VI-VII sec.AD) di Vicenne (167 sepolture) e Morrione (234 sepolture) (Campochiaro, CB), necropoli rinvenute nella stessa area geografica a meno di 1 km di distanza l\u2019una dall\u2019altra, \ue8 emerso che tre scheletri presentano lesioni presumibilmente riconducibili a tubercolosi e sei lesioni riconducibili a lebbra (cfr. Belcastro et al., 2005; Rubini e Zaio, 2009). La presenza di entrambe le malattie nei campioni presi in esame \ue8 particolarmente interessante in relazione agli aspetti di ordine immunologico che interessano lebbra e tubercolosi. \uc8 noto che Mycobacterium leprae e Mycobacterium tuberculosis, agenti patogeni rispettivamente di lebbra e tubercolosi, sono legati da un rapporto di immunit\ue0 specifica acquisita, ovvero l\u2019esposizione dei soggetti a M. tuberculosis renderebbe immuni, o parzialmente immuni, all\u2019infezione da M. leprae; per questo motivo nel corso della storia la loro presenza tende ad escludersi reciprocamente, andando incontro ad un lento declino della lebbra a favore dell\u2019affermazione della tubercolosi negli ultimi secoli (Manchester, 1991). Pertanto l\u2019incidenza di lebbra e tubercolosi nelle due aree di inumazione pu\uf2 fornire importanti indicazioni rispetto alle modalit\ue0 e ai tempi di utilizzo delle aree sepolcrali. Per la rilevazione delle lesioni ossee della tubercolosi, lesioni molto variabili a seconda dell\u2019et\ue0, ci si \ue8 avvalsi di una scheda basata sui dati ottenuti dallo studio di un campione italiano moderno identificato (XIX-XX sec.) di cui sono noti sesso, et\ue0 e causa di morte. La collezione comprende 372 individui, di cui 68 (35 maschi e 33 femmine) morti di tubercolosi (collezione custodita presso il Museo di Antropologia, Universit\ue0 di Bologna)
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Journal of Cultural Heritage, May 1, 2021
ABSTRACT For social, cultural, religious and political reasons the human remains may represent po... more ABSTRACT For social, cultural, religious and political reasons the human remains may represent powerful symbols with different meanings that changed over time among the different communities and countries. Thus, they have a sensitive nature that poses them in a “grey area”, still failing in terms of finding an adequate positioning in the research, in the contemporary cultural institutions and museums. Italy still lacks any official guidelines to follow in the case of protests and claims for restitution of human remains. Only recently, Italy experienced for the first time the restitution and reburial of skeletons coming from a medieval Jewish cemetery before the whole anthropological study could be completed. This event re-opens the debate, largely addressed in many Western countries from the 1990s but marginally until now in Italy, of the disputes between the legitimacy of scientific research on human remains and other various instances (ethnicity, religion, public view…). The case study provides the opportunity to propose our reflections on the legal position of human remains and on their fate in the often-contrasting viewpoints between the public and the researches.
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Conference Presentations by Valentina Mariotti
Materials and Methods: Labourers, the largest single occupation group represented (n=60) in the Coimbra collection, were recorded using the “new Coimbra method” ( ibid.). Age ranged from 16 to 96 and all were male. Three entheses were recorded: subscapularis and biceps brachii insertions, and the common extensor origin. Boxplots were used to visualise the data. Asymmetry and the effect of age were calculated (Henderson et al., 2013).
Results: Mean values of age for each feature score indicate an increase in age for higher scores, except for fine porosity and textural change, which show the opposite trend. Mean ages are more dispersed on the right side, compared to the left. Asymmetry tests for the labourers indicate that the majority have equal scores for features on the right and left sides.
Discussion and Conclusions: Age is the most important factor in increasing scores for bone formation, erosion and macropores, whereas fine porosity and textural change are most commonly found in younger individuals. Sample size is still small, given the large number of features recorded for each enthesis and lack of variability in the scores. Larger samples are needed to understand the relationship between EC features and age.
On-line consultations between the international collaborators to refine feature definition with the aim of decreasing interobserver error rates had limited success. Percentage agreement between four observers eventually improved to 85.8% and 77.9% for the
subscapularis and common extensor origin, but only after intensive in-person collaboration and discussion. Difficulties included: 1) poor representation of features using photographs for
training; 2) lack of a common understanding for descriptive terms even among experienced osteologists; 3) differences in visual acuity; 4) small changes in observer conditions such as lighting at different times of the day; and 5) the need to retrain together on each enthesis. The problems we encountered have implications for many types of qualitative scoring methods currently being used and compared across studies to draw broad conclusions in bioarchaeology. Even with seemingly clear descriptions and illustrations, it is likely that interobserver error rates are substantially higher than the published error rates between
researchers who have not undergone intensive, collaborative training. While many osteologists recognize this difficulty, we suggest that the extent of the problem has been significantly
underestimated.
This research was supported by Wenner-Gren Foundation (grant number Gr. CONF-632), CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, and CRIA - Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia.
Papers by Valentina Mariotti
Materials and Methods: Labourers, the largest single occupation group represented (n=60) in the Coimbra collection, were recorded using the “new Coimbra method” ( ibid.). Age ranged from 16 to 96 and all were male. Three entheses were recorded: subscapularis and biceps brachii insertions, and the common extensor origin. Boxplots were used to visualise the data. Asymmetry and the effect of age were calculated (Henderson et al., 2013).
Results: Mean values of age for each feature score indicate an increase in age for higher scores, except for fine porosity and textural change, which show the opposite trend. Mean ages are more dispersed on the right side, compared to the left. Asymmetry tests for the labourers indicate that the majority have equal scores for features on the right and left sides.
Discussion and Conclusions: Age is the most important factor in increasing scores for bone formation, erosion and macropores, whereas fine porosity and textural change are most commonly found in younger individuals. Sample size is still small, given the large number of features recorded for each enthesis and lack of variability in the scores. Larger samples are needed to understand the relationship between EC features and age.
On-line consultations between the international collaborators to refine feature definition with the aim of decreasing interobserver error rates had limited success. Percentage agreement between four observers eventually improved to 85.8% and 77.9% for the
subscapularis and common extensor origin, but only after intensive in-person collaboration and discussion. Difficulties included: 1) poor representation of features using photographs for
training; 2) lack of a common understanding for descriptive terms even among experienced osteologists; 3) differences in visual acuity; 4) small changes in observer conditions such as lighting at different times of the day; and 5) the need to retrain together on each enthesis. The problems we encountered have implications for many types of qualitative scoring methods currently being used and compared across studies to draw broad conclusions in bioarchaeology. Even with seemingly clear descriptions and illustrations, it is likely that interobserver error rates are substantially higher than the published error rates between
researchers who have not undergone intensive, collaborative training. While many osteologists recognize this difficulty, we suggest that the extent of the problem has been significantly
underestimated.
This research was supported by Wenner-Gren Foundation (grant number Gr. CONF-632), CIAS - Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, and CRIA - Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia.