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

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.Attraverso la chiave di lettura osteobiografica, l'indagine di collezioni scheletriche storiche custodite presso Musei e Soprintendenze può fornire nuovi indizi per la loro storia degli studi. Una piccola ma significativa collezione di crani, ospitata presso il Museo "Giuseppe Sergi" della Sapienza Università di Roma, è rimasta anonima fino ad un recente protocollo di indagine iniziato nel 2018. Questa collezione fu recuperata dall'area funeraria scoperta nel corso del XIX secolo nel sito di Castel Trosino (Ascoli Piceno, Italia). Questo cimitero faceva parte di un’importante comunità durante il periodo della dominazione longobarda d'Italia, come testimoniato dalla ricchezza dei corredi recuperati. I 19 crani presentati in questo lavoro sono gli unici disponibili per lo studio, tutti gli altri sono andati persi poco dopo il primo scavo. La loro importanza è legata alla ricerca di una maggiore comprensione delle testimonianze osteologiche della comunità altomedievale di Castel Trosino

Conservation and reassessment of an overlooked skeletal collection preserved since 1901 at the Museum of Anthropology “G. Sergi”, Rome

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