Serena Viva | Università Del Salento (original) (raw)

Papers by Serena Viva

in Dalle steppe al Mediterraneo. Popoli, culture, integrazione, Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Fondazioni e rituali funerari delle aristocrazie germaniche nel contesto mediterraneo (Cimitile-Santa Maria Capua Vetere, 18-19 giugno 2015), Napoli, pp. 251-268., 2017

Seminari del Centro interuniversitario per la storia e l’archeologia dell’alto medioevo, Dec 31, 2022

Research Square (Research Square), Jan 30, 2023

The application of radiology as an aid for paleoanthropological analyses is seeing a widespread i... more The application of radiology as an aid for paleoanthropological analyses is seeing a widespread increase. The aim of this study is to examine a number of radiological dental aspects related to hereditary haemoglobinopathies, such as b-thalassemia, on the human remains of a past community by way of micro-CT. A sample from the early medieval (10th-11th century) archaeological site of Vetricella (Scarlino, Grosseto), located in an area historically affected by malaria and part of the nEU-Med Advanced ERC project, was selected. Macroscopic paleopathological analysis revealed features typical of b-thalassemia. As a result, the skeletal remains underwent CT and micro-CT examination. CT analysis of the ribs, as demonstrated in previous studies, con rmed the initial hypothesis of the presence of b-thalassemia in the group. The dental micro-CT carried out on a sample of 7 deciduous incisors belonging to 7 sub-adult individuals allowed observing for the rst time a direct relationship between the degrees of b-thalassemia recorded on the skeletons and dentinogenesis defects, identifying also a new radiological evidence which will be termed as «iris-like» appearance. A sample of three individuals from a coeval, non-thalassemic community was used for comparative purposes. These observations constitute a new approach to the diagnosis of b-thalassemia in archaeological contexts, providing an additional tool for differential diagnoses while also furthering our knowledge of the natural history of this disease.

Research Square (Research Square), Apr 5, 2024

In recent years, paleopathological cases from ancient contexts are being increasingly taken into ... more In recent years, paleopathological cases from ancient contexts are being increasingly taken into account to reconstruct the clinical history of a number of diseases, in particular congenital ones, at times still featuring in the genes of present-day populations. The skeleton of a male (T97) with an estimated ageat-death of 40-45 years has been found in the Early Medieval phase of an archaeological site in the Venetian Lagoon (north-east Italy). Through the osteoarchaeological study, full skeletal CT, histopathological examination, and comparison with other case studies a diagnosis was made. It is now possible to provide a detailed evaluation of the most severe case of multiple osteochondromas (MO) ever to be documented by paleopathology. T97 currently appears to be the most severe case of MO ever to be attested from archaeological context. No skeletal remains documented so far, either in Italy or abroad, have revealed such a high number of osteochondromas and chondrosarcomas, i.e. malignant mutations. Moreover, the individual in question appears to have developed all the characteristic features of the pathology, resulting in a unicum in the international landscape. The present case of multiple osteochondroma is useful in understanding the natural clinical dynamics of this disease, providing for the rst time a CT scan of a complete skeleton affected, as well as the survival of an individual with severe disabilities in a Medieval context.

Forensic Science International Synergy, 2024

This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of an age estimation method based on the pulp⁄tooth ... more This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of an age estimation method based on the pulp⁄tooth area ratio by assessing intra-and inter-examiner agreement across five observers at different intervals. Using the same X-ray device and technical parameters, 96 digital periapical X-ray images of upper and lower canines were obtained from 28 deceased people in Central America, whose age at death ranged from 19 to 49 years. Excellent and good agreement of results were achieved, and there were no statistically significant differences. The R2 value for upper teeth (54.0%) was higher than the R2 value for lower teeth (45.7%). The highest intraclass correlation coefficient value was 0.995 (0.993-0.997) and the lowest 0.798 (0.545-0.895). Inter-examiner agreement was high with values of 0.975 (0.965-0.983) and 0.927 (0.879-0.955). This method is adequate for assessing age in missing and unidentified people, including victims of mass disasters.

PALEOPATHOLOGY NEWSLETTER, 2024

The recent experience teaching Biological Anthropology in the master’s degree course in Archaeolo... more The recent experience teaching Biological Anthropology in the master’s degree course in Archaeology at the University of Salento (6 Italian CFU = 6 European ECTS, 21 lectures, 42 hours in total plus a final oral exam) prompts me to make a few reflections. The first is on certain limitations due to prior knowledge or at least to the so-called prerequisites required of
students, which are indispensable for tackling a broad and diverse course subject with awareness. The second point is about offering free study opportunities to students with excavations and workshops where they can put into practice the knowledge acquired to improve it.

Il lavoro di tesi consiste nello studio diacronico dell’evoluzione delle necropoli dal Tardoantic... more Il lavoro di tesi consiste nello studio diacronico dell’evoluzione delle necropoli dal Tardoantico al basso Medioevo, prendendo come modello il caso della necropoli del sito archeologico di San Genesio (San Miniato, PI). La presente ricerca, muovendo da un doppio approccio archeologico e antropologico, indispensabile per questo tipo di contesto, è volta all'analisi dei contesti cimiteriali nel tentativo di rispondere a problemi interpretativi generali e questioni specifiche. Lo studio delle inumazioni a partire dall'analisi sul campo ha permesso di effettuare considerazioni di grande importanza, grazie alle quali gruppi e singole tombe sono stati interpretati in modo da consentirne l’inserimento in precise fasi cronologiche oppure permettere il riferimento a un gruppo etnico piuttosto che ad un altro. Le osservazioni tafonomiche hanno permesso di ricostruire rituali o modi di seppellire altrimenti poco o per nulla visibili archeologicamente. Ne è un esempio il caso del cimit...

Fondazioni e rituali funerari delle aristocrazie germaniche nel contesto mediterraneo, 2017

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022

During excavations carried out at the necropolis of San Genesio, taphonomic analysis permitted th... more During excavations carried out at the necropolis of San Genesio, taphonomic analysis permitted the detection of a small nucleus of distinctive graves dated to the sixth century and set within the wider context of autochthonous burials. This group was characterized by features such as wooden coffins and tree trunk burials, elements typical of the Germanic cultural milieu. Furthermore, anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains identified a case of Artificial Cranial Deformation (ACD), a distinctive element of Gothic ethnic groups. Individuals with ACD are extremely rare in the Italian archeological record and are related to the period in which the Gothic migrations took place. The subject, buried in a wooden casket, was a male individual with a deformed skull, polytraumatized, and most likely killed in combat, possibly during the Gothic War. This is the first Italian case of an individual with ACD, who died a certified violent death. The present study, despite the absence of traditional Germanic grave goods, has allowed to hypothesize the existence at San Genesio of an allochthonous group, a theory further supported by strontium isotope analysis.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

Death was a common factor during pregnancy and childbirth in both past and recent societies. Neve... more Death was a common factor during pregnancy and childbirth in both past and recent societies. Nevertheless, the recording of women from archaeological contexts still featuring a fetus in the pelvic cavity or dystocia is very rare. Even less frequent are cases of post mortem fetal extrusion. At the archaeological site of San Genesio (San Miniato, Pisa), a stoppage point along the Via Francigena, the cemetery phases dating from the 6th to the 13th century were investigated. In one of the phases dating to the Early Medieval period, the skeleton of a female individual of about thirty years of age, deceased during the 32nd week of pregnancy, was documented. The fetus was positioned between the femurs, in the opposite orientation to that of the mother. Taphonomic analysis, comparative review of other forensic and archaeological cases and the anthropological study of the recorded skeletons suggest that, due to the accumulation of gas during the emphysematous phase of decomposition, the fetus would have been expelled from the mother's pelvic cavity before the bodies were completely covered by soil. We can define this finding as one of those rare cases of "coffin birth" in an archaeological context.

Environmental Archaeology, 2021

Pathological conditions in skeletal remains, such as cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis, c... more Pathological conditions in skeletal remains, such as cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis, can be caused by etiologically different forms of anemia: hereditary hemolytic anemias, iron deficiency anemias, megaloblastic anemias, etc. Though not always simple to apply, differential diagnosis of cases of anemia found in the archaeological record is essential to correlate the pathology with the wider environmental and socio-cultural context. Anthropological analysis of the skeletal sample from the archaeological site of Vetricella showed a very high prevalence of cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis. The differential diagnosis between acquired and congenital anemia is essential in the study of this condition, especially considering the presence of Plasmodium falciparum in this area and its role in the possible subsequent spread of the thalassaemia gene, which was widespread until a few decades ago. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was carried out on a large subset of the skeletal sample, including both anemic and non-anemic individuals, to investigate the nutritional patterns of the Vetricella population in order to verify whether the widespread traces of anemia might be of dietary origin. Isotope results allowed for the exclusion of the hypothesis of nutritional-deficiency anemia and supported the hypothesis of congenital anemia.

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2020

The mass burials from the western necropolis of the Greek colony of Himera (Sicily) related to th... more The mass burials from the western necropolis of the Greek colony of Himera (Sicily) related to the battles of 480 and 409 BCE Mass graves of dead soldiers from the battles of Himera

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2018

The Western (Buonfornello) necropolis of Himera, dating from the 7 th to 5 th c. BC, has yielded ... more The Western (Buonfornello) necropolis of Himera, dating from the 7 th to 5 th c. BC, has yielded 10,096 burials, among which are six common burials (n=2-22). Based on the archaeological and historical evidence, these are presumed to be the result of the Battle of Himera, fought in approximately 480 BC, or some other warfare episode taking place in the same period and it is hypothesized that all the individuals are male. A reliable morphological sex determination is impossible in most cases due to the bad state of preservation of the pelves. The present paper aims to establish whether sex dimorphism in diaphyseal dimensions allows for the calculation of site-specific Discriminant Functions (DF) that are useful for sex determination and to verify the archaeological hypothesis that all individuals in the six common burials are male. DF computation was conducted for sex determination based on the diaphyseal dimensions recorded for a sample of 89 pelvis sexed individuals (57 males, 32 females). The DF were selected by taking into account the large number of m/f samples (n>30) and the accuracy (>90%). DF was tested on a sample of male/female Himeran pelvis sexed individuals not used for computing DF (n=17, 11 males, 6 females) and 27 skeletons from common burials. In the first case, pelvis and DF sex determination are concordant in 16 cases (94.1%). In the second case, 3 out of 27 individuals were discarded as DF produced conflicting sex determinations. The remaining 24 individuals were sexed as males by means of DF in 95.8% of cases. The archaeological hypothesis that all individuals in these common burials are male cannot be rejected as site-specific DF diagnose the male sex in a percentage that is higher than their accuracy in a sample of pelvis sexed individuals.

The individual age at death estimation is one of the main components of the anthropological study... more The individual age at death estimation is one of the main components of the anthropological study and is the basis of demographic studies conducted on ancient peoples. However, the different methods commonly used in anthropology for adult age at death determination provide estimates of the age in the form of wide intervals. This happens regardless of the state of preservation of bones, even if in case of a poorly preserved skeletons we can only determine the individual as an adult. The consequence is the inability to develop demographic studies with a good degree of reliability. Several age estimation methods apply the various forms of tooth modification, including wear, root dentine transparency, tooth cementum annulation, racemization of aspartic acid, and apposition of secondary dentine. Wear and the apposition of secondary dentine are the currently available non-destructive methods. Tooth wear is influenced by various external factors (masticatory function, type of food, timing ...

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2015

Objectives: The estimation of an individual's age at the time of death is one of the most importa... more Objectives: The estimation of an individual's age at the time of death is one of the most important components in anthropological studies and is the basis for demographic studies on ancients. However, the different methods commonly used in anthropology for adult age estimation at death provide results with a high level of uncertainty. The consequence is the inability to develop demographic studies with a good degree of reliability. A non-destructive method currently available is the analysis of the apposition of secondary dentine on which Cameriere's method is based. Materials and Methods: The purpose of this work was age estimation using Cameriere's method on a sample of 18 adult Neolithic skeletons from four sites in Southern Italy (Apulia): Carpignano, Masseria della Marina, Samari and Serra Cicora. The estimates derived from the study of mandibular and maxillary canines were compared with the age ranges obtained with commonly used anthropological indicators: fusion of cranial sutures, degree of tooth wear, remodelling of the pubic symphysis and the auricular surface of the ilium. The latter two provide intervals which encompass the ages estimated with Cameriere's method. Results: The results show that the population was composed of individuals of advanced age, even beyond the age of 50, hardly distinguishable by other methods. Discussion: This finding may support the hypothesis that individuals aged 501 are rare in prehistoric skeletal samples due to the unreliability of classical anthropological methods, not only because they were actually rare in prehistoric populations, or absent for taphonomical reasons.

Minerva stomatologica, 2014

The discovery of reliable means to determine the age of an individual is a fundamental objective ... more The discovery of reliable means to determine the age of an individual is a fundamental objective in forensic medicine, in consideration of the constant increase of illegal immigration into the European community. In 2008 Cameriere et al. developed a method based on the relationship between age and the third molar index (I3m), which assesses the degree of maturation of the third molar through measurements made on orthopantomography. The purpose of this work was to test the accuracy of Cameriere's cut-off for I3m as a tool to assess full age (18) on a new sample of living subjects. Orthopantomographs of 287 Italian living subjects aged between 13 and 22 years have been randomly selected and included in the study. Identification number, gender, date of birth and date of execution of the radiograph were recorded for each patient on a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet. Radiographs were digitalized and analyzed using a computerized image-processing program (Adobe® Photoshop® CS4). The resu...

Seminari del Centro interuniversitario per la storia e l’archeologia dell’alto medioevo, Dec 31, 2022

Research Square (Research Square), Jan 30, 2023

Research Square (Research Square), Apr 5, 2024

Forensic Science International Synergy, 2024

PALEOPATHOLOGY NEWSLETTER, 2024

Fondazioni e rituali funerari delle aristocrazie germaniche nel contesto mediterraneo, 2017

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

Environmental Archaeology, 2021

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2020

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2018

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2015

Minerva stomatologica, 2014

LA GROTTA DELLE VENERI DI PARABITA (LECCE), 2020

The subject of this study is the osteological material from Tombs 9 and 10 (T9 and T10) discovere... more The subject of this study is the osteological material
from Tombs 9 and 10 (T9 and T10) discovered in
November 2010 at Sant’Angelo Vecchio. The bones’
state of preservation is heavily compromised by several
factors. In Tomb 9, which yielded the remains of an
adult, the poor state of preservation can be attributed
to the low pH of the soil. Increased soil acidity, often
caused by certain types of cultivation (in particular the
olive), is the primary cause of the dissolution of the
calcium that constitutes the majority of bone tissue.34
This poor preservation sharply limited the amount of
information that could be retrieved about the individual
buried in Tomb 9.
Tomb 10 contained two individuals, an adult
(T10A) and a child (T10B). The adult’s state of preservation
is markedly better than that of Tomb 9, but
the integrity of the osteological material is nevertheless
compromised by disturbances that presumably
followed a reopening of the tomb in antiquity. The
child’s state of preservation is very poor due to the
fragility of the immature bones: even the teeth show
notable demineralization.

by Valentino Nizzo, Ian Gonzalez Alaña, Alessandra Guari, Susanne Moraw, Francesco Ghilotti, Serena Viva, Marie De Jonghe, Elena Dellù, Victoria Russeva, Stephen Kay, Philippe Pergola, Chiara Pilo, Llorenç Alapont, Cecilia Rossi, and Reine-Marie Bérard

Forthcoming in V. Nizzo (ed.), Archaeology and Anthropology of Death, Rome 2016

Located in the ruins of a deserted Roman villa in rural Umbria, there was an infant cemetery cont... more Located in the ruins of a deserted Roman villa in rural Umbria, there was an infant cemetery containing 47 burials of infants, from prenatal to 2-3 years, that has been termed an «abnormal cemetery» by its excavator, David Soren. The infants had been interred over a brief period about A.D. 450, as a result of a malaria epidemic. Associated with this mass grave were 13 puppies, most of them dismembered, the skeleton of a toad, and a raven's talon. Two stones had been placed over the hands of the oldest child in the cemetery while his feet had been 'weighed down' by a large roof tile. The archaeological record has been interpreted as evidence of apotropaic magical practices, stimulated partly by fear of fatal disease, partly by necrophobia. By contrast, the interments of the youngest children, mostly fetuses, had the character of discardsas the excavator called it -, with almost no attention given to burial form and no significant offerings. Using this record as a starting point, the paper will address the following questions: What exactly makes a burial a «deviant» one? Is there really anything like a «normative» or «typical» burial, an identical code of ritual for all members of a given community, regardless of factors such as gender, age, social and legal status, circumstances of death, etc.? And if there are different kinds of burial in one and the same community, which one should be considered the typical one? The burial of an adult male belonging to the elite and having died a peaceful death? And all other members of the community would have been buried in deviant ways? Acting as a kind of advocatus diaboli, this paper will argue for a reconsideration of terms like «atypical death» or «deviant burial», asking if it wouldn't be more fitting to talk about «adequate burials», i. e. adequate for a given individual and given circumstances of death. After establishing that, the kind of burial given to an individual still could be used as evidence for his or her place/status in society.

This volume consists of a series of archaeological scientific articles by colleagues who have had... more This volume consists of a series of archaeological scientific articles by colleagues who have had the opportunity to share their work with Stefano Vassallo, being able, in this way, to appreciate the professional and, even more, human qualities with which he has carried out his work in his more than thirty-year career.

STUDI IN ONORE DI STEFANO VASSALLO, 2020

Double burials, ie simultaneous depositions of two individuals, are rare occurrence in ancient Gr... more Double burials, ie simultaneous depositions of two individuals, are rare occurrence in ancient Greece, so their
discovery is always received with great interest.
In the necropolises of Himera, only 15 double burials were discovered, out of over 13000 excavated tombs. With the
exception of these and the mass graves relating to the battles of 480 and 409 BC, the necropolises of Himera are
characterized by single burials.
The taphonomic analyses, aimed at demonstrating the simultaneity of double burials, and the anthropological analyses
to determine sex and age at death, show a skeletal sample that is decidedly heterogeneous by type of tomb, sex and age.
Given the variety of the composition of the double burials it seems that there is no rule except simultaneous death and
probably a bond between the people buried together.

The nEU-Med project: Vetricella, an Early Medieval royal property on Tuscany’s Mediterranean, 2020

The burials from the cemetery at Vetricella have been analyzed following an archaeological and an... more The burials from the cemetery at Vetricella have been
analyzed following an archaeological and anthropological
approach in an attempt to answer both general issues and specific
questions tied-in to a distinctive archeological context,
not a settlement or religious complex, but rather an administrative
centre, a royal court connected to the Kings of Italy
and the Ottonian Dynasty of the German Kings during the
post-Carolingian period. The study was carried out with the
aim of reconstructing the biological and palaeodemographic
profile of a human community that, between the mid-10th
and beginning of the 11th century, during a phase that sees
a change in function of the royal centre of Vetricella, and
the beginnings of the graveyard. Over the course of three
excavation campaigns (2016-2018) a total of 52 graves were
identified and documented. While taphonomic observations
have made it possible to reconstruct rituals and ways of burial
that would otherwise have had little or no archaeological
visibility, the topographical analyses of the cemetery, on the
basis of the distribution of a number of graves, confirmed
the initial hypothesis of the existence of a religious structure.
For the anthropological study of the skeletal remains we did
not limit ourselves to the uncritical application of traditional
anthropological methods, but rather endeavored to comprehend
which would be the most suitable approaches to garner
data as near as possible to the biological reality of the sample,
comparable to other topographically and chronologically
analogous contexts. Sex determination analyses were carried
out along with age at death, stature in life, unspecific and
functional stress markers, pathologies and traumas. Results
were submitted, where possible, to statistic tests and compared
to other coeval sites.