Fulvio Bartoli

Poisoning histories in the Italian renaissance: The case of Pico Della Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano were two of the most important humanists of the Italian Renaissance. They died suddenly in 1494 and their deaths have been for centuries a subject of debate. The exhumation of their remains offered the opportunity to study the cause of their death through a multidisciplinary research project. Anthropological analyses, together with documentary evidences, radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analysis supported the identification of the remains attributed to Pico. Macroscopic examination did not reveal paleopathological lesions or signs related to syphilis. Heavy metals analysis, carried out on bones and mummified tissues, showed that in Picos remains there were potentially lethal levels of arsenic, supporting the philosophers poisoning theory reported by documentary sources. The arsenic concentrations obtained from analysis of Polizianos remains, are probably more related to an As chronic exposure or diagenetic processes rather than poisoning.

Niveles de plomo en los individuos de la necrópolis tardorromana de la c/ Virgen de la Misericordia (Valencia)

El objetivo general de este estudio ha sido determinar los contenidos de plomo (Pb) en restos de huesos y suelos de la necropolis de la c/ Virgen de la Misericordia (Valencia) para reconstruir el proceso de transicion del elemento (desde el sedimento hacia los huesos y viceversa) debido a la accion de los procesos diageneticos.

A 2000 Year-old cold case: the violent death of a roman mariner between archaeology and forensic anthropology

During archaeological excavation of the Roman port of Pisa in 1999, two skeletons came to light, laden down by a Roman ship, sunk and partly preserved, probably caused by a disastrous flood in the River Auser. Skeletons belonging to an adult male and a small dog, resembling the present Dachshund breed, were recovered. The canine rested on he mans left upper limb at the forearm level. This 2000 year-old cold case has been investigated using physical and forensic anthropological techniques which allowed us to define the biological profile of this subject: including the sex, age, height and skeletal pathology. The taphonomic analysis of bones and the context as a possible crime scene let us understand the decomposition and death dynamics revealing the causes of the partial dismemberment. The case presented is an example the physical anthropology as a discipline useful for the analysis of skeleton human remains, and as a useful tool in the reconstruction of ancient events and bio-archaeological data in synergy with forensic sciences.