Theoretical Approaches and Key Concepts in Medical Anthropology

The theoretical views and ideas offered in the following pages – which are quite long in order to offer a through explanation of the vast and diverse medical and anthropological literature we have available – regard specific concepts and paradigms that will be useful in order to create a solid framework for the ethnographic material we have gathered

The "Canone Inverso": when tobacco was not so bad. A Look Back at the Primordial Debate on the tobacco effects in the Occupational Medicine

AIM: The article provides an overview on the beginning and evolutions of medical observations on tobacco induced diseases between Eighteenth and Nineteenth century. METHODS: By searching for historical medical literature, first studies on tobacco-induced diseases focused on production risks rather than on adverse effects that the use of tobacco has for the human health. RESULTS: The approach induced first eighteenth-century authors to define this substance as a non-pathogenic and, consequently, not to consider tobacco factories dangerous for health workers. In those years, tobacco was employed in therapy as a stimulant treatment and it was considered harmless and even healthy and preventive of several acute diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Authors will show that studies on pathogenic effects of smoking will only start around late nineteenth century, when the idea of the healthiness of tobacco industry was already supported

Tomb number 2 of the Church of St. Michael in Mornago (Varese, Italy). Anthropological and archaeological study of medieval funeral remains

The current paper aims to present the archaeological and anthropological results of the investigation conducted on a medieval burial which presents several features that recall the Longobard culture. After the archaeological evaluations on the architectural morphology of the tomb and on the grave goods, we proceeded with the anthropological investigations on human and animal bone remains. These analyses allowed us to formulate a hypothesis related to this particular funeral ritual from ancient Longobard tradition. The tomb number 2 of St. Michael church in Mornago represents a rare evidence of inhumation with bird in Northern Italy

Voices from the past defending criminal anthropology

Criminal anthropology from the second half of the nineteenth century took the first steps towards the analysis of the criminal, reserving him the highest at- tention. The focus to analyze not only the crime itself but also to investigate the kind of criminal, because the penalty should not be perceived as a means to fight crime but a means of defense against the real enemy, the crimina