Paleopathology and functional anatomy evaluation of the ex voto of Veii preserved in Modena: historical context and possible interpretations
Main Article Content
Keywords
Paleopathology, Etruscan, ex voto
Abstract
The Modena ex-voto collection represents a selection of materials coming from the conspicuous Lanciani Stipe and represent a formidable opportunity to observe the devotional phenomenon, being able to provide the visitor with a varied and complete taxonomy of cases and intentions. We have no concrete evidence to establish the real extent of the Etruscan knowledge of human anatomy. Some indications can be derived from a large number of donaria representing parts of the human body. Considering that Western medicine at the time based its anatomical knowledge on animal observation, the specific cultural level of the Etruscans seems in line with that of contemporary peoples, with whom they were in a relationship of mutual cultural exchange.
References
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Clegg, J. B. & Weatherall, D. J. (1999); Thalassemia and Malaria: New Insights into an Old Problem. Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians, 111, pp. 278–282.
Facchini, F., Rastelli E. & Brasili, P. (2004). Cribra orbitalia and cribra cranii in Roman skeletal remains from the Ravenna area and Rimini (I–IV Century AD). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 14, 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.717
Fenelli, M. (1995). Depositi votivi in area etrusco italica. Medicina nei Secoli, 7, 367–382.
Formicola, V., Milanesi, Q. & Scarsini, C. (1987). Evidence of spinal tuberculosis of the 4th millennium BC from Arene Candide Cave (Liguria, Italy). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 72, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330720102
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Monot, M., Honoré, N., Garnier, T., Zidane, N., Sherafi, D., Paniz-Mondolfi, A., Matsuoka, M., Taylor, G. M., Donoghue, H. D., Bouwman, A., Mays, S., Watson, C., Lockwood, D., Khamispour, A., Dowlati, Y., Jianping, S., Rea, T. H., Vera-Cabrera, L., Stefani, M. M., Banu, S., Macdonald, M., Sapkota, B. R., Spencer, J. S., Thomas, J., Harshman, K., Singh, P., Busso, P., Gattiker, A., Routgemont, J., Brennan, P. J. & Cole, S. T. (2009). Comparative genomic and phylogeographic analysis of Mycobacterium leprae. Nature, 41, 1282–1289. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.477
Mosothwane, M. N. & Steyn, M. (2009). In sickness or in health? Assessment of Early Iron Age human skeletons from Toutswe site, east central Bostwana. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 19, 66–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.979
Novak, M. & Šlaus, M. (2010). Health and disease in Roman walled city: An example of Colonia Iulia Iader. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 8, 189–206.
Paine, R., Vargiu, R., Signoretti, C. & Coppa, A. (2009). A health assessment for Imperial Roman burials recovered from necropolis of San Donato and Bivio CH, Urbino, Italy. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 87, 193–210. PMID: 19663175.
Petrone, P. P. (1994). Indicatori bioculturali: analisi dei dati di patologia dentaria e scheletrica in comunità di età sannitica (VI-IV sec. a.C., Molise). Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana, 85, 493–507.
Pietrangelo, F. & D’Anastasio, R. (1997). Prima segnalazione di un caso di tubercolosi ossea in un soggetto di epoca etrusca. Bollettino della Società Italiana di Paleopatologia, 1, 93–100.
Rubini, M., Zaio, P. & Roberts, C. (2014). Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence. Homo, 65(1), 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2013.07.006
Rubini, M., Bonafede,E., Mogliazza, S., Moreschini, L. & Bartoli, F. (1999). Contributo alla conoscenza degli Etruschi: la necropoli del Ferrone, Tolfa, Lazio (VII – VI sec. a.C.). Archivio per l’Antropologia e l’Etnologia, 129, 123–143.
Sallustio, C., Zaio, P. & Rubini, M. (2004). Un probabile caso di tubercolosi ossea in una sepoltura dell’Età del Bronzo Medio. Archivio per l'Antropologia e la Etnologia, 134, 223–135.
Santoro, E. (2019). Medicina e chirurgia al tempo degli Etruschi P.S. Edizioni.
Sterpellone, L. (1990). La medicina etrusca. Demoiatria di un’antica Civiltà, CIBA-GEIGY Edizioni.
Tabanelli, M. (1963). La medicina nel mondo degli Etruschi, Olschki, Firenze.
Viganó, C., Haas, C., Rühli, F. J. & Bouwman, A. (2017). 2,000 year old β-thalassemia case in Sardinia suggests malaria was endemic by the Roman period. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 164(2), 362–370. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23278
Walke, P. L., Bathurst, R. R., Richman, R., Gjerdrum, T. & Andrushko, V. A. (2009). The causes of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia: A reappraisal of the iron-deficiency anemia hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 139(2), 109–125. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21031
Bartoloni, G. & Benedettini, M. G. (2011). Veio: il deposito votivo di Comunità (scavi 1889-2005), con contributi di B.Belelli Marchesini e D. Sarracino, Corpus delle stipi votive in Italia, 21, Roma.
Belcastro, M. G., Rastelli, E., Mariotti, V., Consiglio, C., Facchini, F., Bonfiglioli & B. (2007). Continuity and discontinuity of the life-style in central Italy during the Roman Imperial Age-Early Middle Ages transition: Diet, health, and behavior. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132, 381–394. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20530
Brothwell D. R. & Carr, H. G. (1962). The dental health of the Etruscans. British Dental Journal, 113, 207–210.
Canci, A., Monozzi, S., Borgognini Tarli & S. M. (2001). Tuberculosis spondylitis during the Bronze Age: two cases from Italy. Proceedings 13th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, 67–71.
Canci, A., Monozzi, S., Borgognini Tarli & S. M. (1996). New evidence of tuberculous spondylitis from Neolithic Liguria (Italy). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 6, 497–501. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1212(199612)6:5<497::AID-OA291>3.0.CO;2-O
Cucina, A., Vargiu, R., Mancinelli, D., Ricci, R., Santandrea, E., Catalano, P. & Coppa, A. (2016). The necropolis of Vallerano (Rome, 2nd–3rd century AD): An anthropological perspective on the ancient Romans in the Suburbium. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 16, 104–117. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.808
De Cazanove. (2014). 'Ex voto' anatomici animali in Italia e in Gallia. In Sacrum facere: Atti del I Seminario di Archeologia del Sacro pp. 23–39. EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, Trieste.
Clegg, J. B. & Weatherall, D. J. (1999); Thalassemia and Malaria: New Insights into an Old Problem. Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians, 111, pp. 278–282.
Facchini, F., Rastelli E. & Brasili, P. (2004). Cribra orbitalia and cribra cranii in Roman skeletal remains from the Ravenna area and Rimini (I–IV Century AD). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 14, 126–136. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.717
Fenelli, M. (1995). Depositi votivi in area etrusco italica. Medicina nei Secoli, 7, 367–382.
Formicola, V., Milanesi, Q. & Scarsini, C. (1987). Evidence of spinal tuberculosis of the 4th millennium BC from Arene Candide Cave (Liguria, Italy). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 72, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330720102
Fornaciari, G., Brogi, M. G. & Balducci, E. (1985). Dental pathology of the skeletal remains of Pontecagnano (Salerno, Italy) VII-IV centuries B.C. Ossa, 12(4), 9–31.
Frati, F. & Giulierini, P. (2002) Medicina etrusca. Alle origini dell’arte del curare, Calosci, Cortona.
Gutierrez, M. C., Brisse, S., Brosch, R., Fabre, M., Omaı, B., Marmiesse, M., Supply, P. &Vincent, V. (2005). Ancient origin and gene mosaicism of the progenitor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. PLoS 1 Pathogens, 1, 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.0010005
Jannot, J. R. (1995). Les représentations d'animaux dans l'imagerie étrusque. In Homme et animal dans l'antiquité romaine, pp. 217–33. Actes du Colloque (Nantes, 29 mai - 1juin 1991), Tours.
Lallo, J., Armelagos, G. J. & Mensforth, R. P. (1977). The role of diet, disease and physiology in the origin of porotic yperostosis. Human Biology, 49(3), pp. 471–483.
Tito Livio. Ab Urbe condita libri CXLII, 05, 01- 05.
Manzon, S. & Gualdi Russo, E. (2016). Health Patterns of the Etruscan Population (6th–3rd Centuries BC) in Northern Italy: The Case of Spina. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 26, 490–501. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2438
Masotti, S., Onisto, N., M. & Gualdi-Russo, E. (2013). Dento-alveolar features and diet in an Etruscan population (6th-3rd c. B. C.) from northeast Italy. Archives of Oral Biology, 58, 416–426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2012.07.011
Menconi, A. & Fornaciari, G. (1985). L’odontoiatria etrusca. In G. Vogel & G. Gambacurta (Ed.), Storia della Odontoiatria (pp. 89–97). Ars Medica Antiqua.
Michetti, L. M., Tulini, C. & Zanasi, C. (2022). DeVoti Etruschi. La riscoperta della raccolta di Veio del Museo Civico di Modena. All’Insegna del Giglio, Sesto Fiorentino.
Monot, M., Honoré, N., Garnier, T., Zidane, N., Sherafi, D., Paniz-Mondolfi, A., Matsuoka, M., Taylor, G. M., Donoghue, H. D., Bouwman, A., Mays, S., Watson, C., Lockwood, D., Khamispour, A., Dowlati, Y., Jianping, S., Rea, T. H., Vera-Cabrera, L., Stefani, M. M., Banu, S., Macdonald, M., Sapkota, B. R., Spencer, J. S., Thomas, J., Harshman, K., Singh, P., Busso, P., Gattiker, A., Routgemont, J., Brennan, P. J. & Cole, S. T. (2009). Comparative genomic and phylogeographic analysis of Mycobacterium leprae. Nature, 41, 1282–1289. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.477
Mosothwane, M. N. & Steyn, M. (2009). In sickness or in health? Assessment of Early Iron Age human skeletons from Toutswe site, east central Bostwana. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 19, 66–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.979
Novak, M. & Šlaus, M. (2010). Health and disease in Roman walled city: An example of Colonia Iulia Iader. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 8, 189–206.
Paine, R., Vargiu, R., Signoretti, C. & Coppa, A. (2009). A health assessment for Imperial Roman burials recovered from necropolis of San Donato and Bivio CH, Urbino, Italy. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 87, 193–210. PMID: 19663175.
Petrone, P. P. (1994). Indicatori bioculturali: analisi dei dati di patologia dentaria e scheletrica in comunità di età sannitica (VI-IV sec. a.C., Molise). Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana, 85, 493–507.
Pietrangelo, F. & D’Anastasio, R. (1997). Prima segnalazione di un caso di tubercolosi ossea in un soggetto di epoca etrusca. Bollettino della Società Italiana di Paleopatologia, 1, 93–100.
Rubini, M., Zaio, P. & Roberts, C. (2014). Tuberculosis and leprosy in Italy. New skeletal evidence. Homo, 65(1), 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2013.07.006
Rubini, M., Bonafede,E., Mogliazza, S., Moreschini, L. & Bartoli, F. (1999). Contributo alla conoscenza degli Etruschi: la necropoli del Ferrone, Tolfa, Lazio (VII – VI sec. a.C.). Archivio per l’Antropologia e l’Etnologia, 129, 123–143.
Sallustio, C., Zaio, P. & Rubini, M. (2004). Un probabile caso di tubercolosi ossea in una sepoltura dell’Età del Bronzo Medio. Archivio per l'Antropologia e la Etnologia, 134, 223–135.
Santoro, E. (2019). Medicina e chirurgia al tempo degli Etruschi P.S. Edizioni.
Sterpellone, L. (1990). La medicina etrusca. Demoiatria di un’antica Civiltà, CIBA-GEIGY Edizioni.
Tabanelli, M. (1963). La medicina nel mondo degli Etruschi, Olschki, Firenze.
Viganó, C., Haas, C., Rühli, F. J. & Bouwman, A. (2017). 2,000 year old β-thalassemia case in Sardinia suggests malaria was endemic by the Roman period. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 164(2), 362–370. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23278
Walke, P. L., Bathurst, R. R., Richman, R., Gjerdrum, T. & Andrushko, V. A. (2009). The causes of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia: A reappraisal of the iron-deficiency anemia hypothesis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 139(2), 109–125. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21031
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Paleopathology and functional anatomy evaluation of the ex voto of Veii preserved in Modena: historical context and possible interpretations. JBR [Internet]. 2023 Jun. 14 [cited 2024 Jun. 30];1(2):e2023015. Available from: https://mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/JBR/article/view/14695
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How to Cite
1.
Paleopathology and functional anatomy evaluation of the ex voto of Veii preserved in Modena: historical context and possible interpretations. JBR [Internet]. 2023 Jun. 14 [cited 2024 Jun. 30];1(2):e2023015. Available from: https://mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/JBR/article/view/14695