Antonino Vazzana

This paper aims to highlight the importance of 3D printing to support Cultural Heritage
and related activities. We will demonstrate the advantages that a conscious employment of
techniques and methods, together with the right expertise, could offer to an exhibition. We will
detail the steps we took to produce a 1:1 copy of a medieval sphinx for the exhibition Echoes
of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs which took place at the Yale Peabody Museum
of Natural History (USA). This paper highlights the project’s workflow, from the digital 3D
scan, data processing, 3D printing, to the artistic finishing to prepare the object for display.

During the last years, the topic of accessibility of cultural heritage is getting so important all around the Europe. For disseminating a research data and information, it is important to use a simple language and an effective communication. The data research produced by specialists has three formal levels: The third one of communication system aims to break barriers to reach a wide audience. The present study wants to demonstrate the role of images in the process of deductive inference by three dimensional (3D) reconstruction of cultural heritage. The case study of Federico da Montefeltro office shows how inter-disciplinary works and technological resource can help society to understand history and meaning of heritage.

A post medieval mass grave containing hundreds of skeletons, many of which belonging to non-adults, has been discovered. A large-scale multidisciplinary study has been undertaken, thanks to the good preservation of the human remains and the availability of the parish records. This is the first study focused on the juvenile post medieval community of Roccapelago, which aims to provide new data about infant mortality and paleopathology during the 16th and 18th centuries, through the comparison of anthropological data to information available by parish records. The specimen under investigation belongs to the most ancient stratigraphic context of the crypt discovered under the floor of the church, part of an ongoing study. Standard anthropological protocols were used to assess the minimum number of individuals, age-at-death and pathologies. Results show a high mortality range between the last few weeks in utero and the first postnatal year. The comparison shows that historical records lines up with biological data, providing a unique opportunity to compare anthropological protocols for age estimation to the information registered in parish records when dealing with commingled juvenile remains.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is caused by a delay in the development of the acetabular cavity, leading to an anomaly in the angle of the acetabular roof. As a result, the femoral head and the acetabular cavity do not interact normally. The identification of three cases of DDH among the remains discovered in the most recent unit from the crypt at Roccapelago (Modena, Italy) enabled us to discuss the presence of DDH in this region during the 18th century. All three cases are bilateral and Dunn class I, two have been identified as male and one as female. These DDH cases are very likely mainly due to mechanical factors such as the breech position of the foetus, perhaps associated with birth order. But given their overall similarity, they may also have resulted from the practice of swaddling new-borns. In addition, current data from the Italian Ministry of Health suggests that the incidence of DDH has remained stable in this region from the 18th century to the present. The ongoing study of remains from earlier units should bring a better understanding of the particular prevalence of DDH at Roccapelago.

Human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts could often disclose signs of traumatic injuries from ancient weapons that can reveal the interpersonal violence grade, the type of weapon equipment and the fighting techniques of a specific historical period. The aim of this work is to analyze and describe traumas in the human skeletal remains dated back to late Antiquity (V-VI centuries AD), discovered during archaeological excavations in Modena (MO); besides it’s intended to describe how such injuries were inflicted and the consequences of generated traumas. The research project aimed also to characterize individuals from an anthropologic and genetic point of view in order to identify the geographic origin of this population. Traumas were observed in four out of the thirteen individuals recovered from the excavation. Anthropological examinations reveal that they are all adult males. The edges of the lesions and the degree of penetration into the bone show sharpness of the weapon...

Human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts could often disclose signs of traumatic injuries from ancient weapons that can reveal the interpersonal violence grade, the type of weapon equipment and the fighting techniques of a specific historical period. The aim of this work is to analyze and describe traumas in the human skeletal remains dated back to late Antiquity (V-VI centuries AD), discovered during archaeological excavations in Modena (MO); besides it’s intended to describe how such injuries were inflicted and the consequences of generated traumas. The research project aimed also to characterize individuals from an anthropologic and genetic point of view in order to identify the geographic origin of this population. Traumas were observed in four out of the thirteen individuals recovered from the excavation. Anthropological examinations reveal that they are all adult males. The edges of the lesions and the degree of penetration into the bone show sharpness of the weapon...