Il cimitero medievale presso la chiesa di Santa Maria di Lugo, Campagna Lupia (Ve): una prospettiva bioarcheologica

Il cimitero medievale legato alla chiesa di Santa Maria di Lugo di Campagna Lupia conta 64 sepolture. Lo studio delle paleopatologie e della tafonomia delle sepolture pu\uf2 apportare nuove informazioni allo studio dell'epoca medievale

[Electrophysiological demonstration of more structures in the atrioventricular node (author's transl)].

Three types of atrioventricular nodal conduction curves, relating A1A2 to H1H2, generated with atrial extrastimulus technique, are known. The first type is smooth, suggesting the homogeneous structure of A-V node. The second type, with abrupt increase in H1H2 response over a critical range of A1A2 coupling intervals, suggests the presence of fast and slow A-V nodal pathways. We have found in five patients the third tipe of A-V conduction curve, giving evidence of an intranodal final common pathway, distal to the fast and slow A-V nodal pathways. The thyrd type of curve enables us to know also some alectrophysiological properties of final common pathway. Indeed we have defined effective and functional refractory periods of fast, slow and final common pathways as far as we can in this type of curve. Paced heart rate variations and atropine medications have led the third type of A-V conduction curve to change into the second type in three cases, into first type in one case. These changes of A-V nodal conduction curves are related to different influence of cardiac cycle lenghts and autonomic nervous system on refractory periods and conduction velocity of the outlined intranodal structures

Funerary reuse of a Roman amphitheatre: Palaeodietary and osteological study of Early Middle Ages burials (8th and 9th centuries AD) discovered in the Arena of Verona (Northeastern Italy)

The economic and political disruption following the collapse of the Roman Empire is an important moment for the cultural and biological history of Western Europe. One of the trends associated this socioeconomic change is the reuse of Roman public monuments for different purposes including funerary ones. The cultural meaning of this practice, occasionally described throughout Europe, is however still unclear. Here, we present a study of a group of burials (N = 10) recently discovered in the Roman amphitheatre (Arena) of Verona (Northeastern Italy) and dating to Early Middle Ages (8th and 9th century AD). Specifically, we address the following research questions: (1) What depositional events are responsible for the observed stratigraphic sequence? 2) Which demographic composition and health condition characterize this sample? (3) What kind of diet characterized these individuals? In order to address these questions, we performed an osteological and isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) study of the skeletal evidence for the assessment of palaeopathological and dietary patterns and a histological analysis for the refinement of age at death and the calculation of the minimum number of individuals (MNI). A 14C study was also performed in order to better define the depositional sequence of these individuals. The results, besides being among the first palaeodietary data for Early Middle Ages in this region, highlight: (a) the funerary use of this location for at least one century; (b) an MNI of 10 individuals of both sexes and different age classes, featuring relatively high frequencies of unspecific stress markers (porotic hyperostosis and linear enamel hypoplasia) and trauma, and (c) a diet characterized by a consistent contribution of C4 plants and a good access to animal proteins. These results suggest a long‐spanning practice and the absence of any selectivity in the choice of these individuals. Finally, isotopic data align with previous studies on Bronze and Iron Age samples confirming a long tradition of alimentary exploitation of C4 plants in this area