Bioarchaeology of Human Remains in Sicily: Laws and Guidelines

The Human Embalming Project© team is currently focusing on the study of Sicilian archival documents and human bioarchaeological material. In the best spirit of the Code of Conduct of the Paleopathology Association, we would like to share information on the laws and guidelines applied in Sicily with a broader readership of colleagues

The mummy of Rosalia Lombardo at the end of 2022: an update on the status quaestionis and a reflection on the level of evidence

In this communication we present key new evidence on the story of the famous Salafia embalming manuscript that further clarifies the genesis of a series of studies on this topic and corroborates our assumptions published in previous articles on this matter. In the second part of the paper, we provide a concise ethical analysis of Rosalia Lombardo’s case and try to establish a level of evidence in the assessment of her preservation by comparing facts and interpretations. Finally, we call for an independent assessment of the mummy’s state of preservation and the disclosure of the full content of the Salafia manuscript. Rosali

Bioarchaeological and Paleopathological Analysis of a Burial from the Late Roman Necropolis of Pianotta di Calatabiano (CT, Sicily)

This contribution focuses on the human osteological remains recovered from a tomb in the necropolis of Contrada Pianotta di Calatabiano (Catania, eastern Sicily). In antiquity, this fertile, water-rich land along the Via Pompeia connecting Messina to Syracuse was ideal for intensive agricultural exploitation. In the 1990s this site was subjected to an early archaeological investigation that brought to light the ruins of the baths of a mid-imperial era-built villa, whose stratigraphy dated the ultimate abandonment of the site to the end of the 5th century AD. Between 2014 and 2015 the excavation of the necropolis was carried out in an area that extends immediately north of the mouth of the river Fiumefreddo

“Cola u’ Nanu”: an early nineteenth century case of disproportionate small stature

This report considers Cola “u’ Nanu” (Cola the Dwarf) (Fig. 1) who was depicted in 1840 by the famous nineteenth century Sicilian painter Michele Panebianco (1806–1873)