The face of the poet Dante Alighieri reconstructed by virtual modelling and forensic anthropology techniques

This paper describes the multi-disciplinary approach to reconstruct the face of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Since Dante's sepulchre will be opened in 2021, the reconstructive process is based on morphological and metric data collected on the poet's cranium during the formal identification of his remains in 1921 by the anthropologist Fabio Frassetto, as well as on the resulting plaster model. Starting from this plaster model and a morphologically compatible reference mandible, since the original mandible was never found, a 3D digital model of the complete skull was obtained by reverse engineering and virtual modelling techniques. The most important aspect in this work was the method of virtual modelling proposed for the ex novo generation of the mandible. The physical model of the skull (cranium + mandible) was then produced by means of a rapid prototyping system. This model was finally used to recreate Dante's face via traditional facial reconstruction techniques currently used in forensic anthropology.     

Late antique glass from Salapia: Tracking production and trading networks

The investigation of 38 late antique vessels from the archaeological excavation of Salapia has been performed using EMPA and LA-ICP-MS. The collection was made using impure sands and mineral soda. Among coloured glass, most vessels were made of ‘fresh’ glass. The use of colouring agents is rare, and most decoloured glass is obtained by Mn addition. Sb-decolouration is limited to one cup, and two colourless vessels show both manganese and antimony. As for provenance, the prevalence of Egyptian-HIMT glass over the Levantine is evident. Among Levantine glass, Jalame glass is represented, whereas Apollonia glass is absent. Among Egyptian (and deemed Egyptian) glass, the prevalence of HIMT glass over the other types has been observed. The high attestation of fresh glass, most notable in the earlier centuries, suggests the importation of glass in the form of finished objects, especially luxury vessels.     

Mafia doesn't live here anymore: Antimafia policies and housing prices

It is well known that the value of a house depends both on the physical characteristics and on some features of the neighborhood in which it is located. If so, organized-crime activities can significantly affect urban real estate values. Antimafia policies, in turn, can be intended as a tool to influence those external features. This paper compares the effects on real estate values of the two main antimafia policies implemented in Italy since the 1990s at the municipal level. While we do not find any significant effect of dismissal policies on house prices, we find a statistically significant effect of reassignment policies depending on the specific destination of confiscated property.     

The population ecology of hunter-gatherers and their prey

In this paper we combine foraging theory and population biology models to simulate dynamic relationships between hunter-gatherers and their prey resources. Hunter-gatherer population growth responds to the net marginal rate of foraging; prey population growth responds logistically to exploitation. Thus conceived, the relationship between forager and prey biomass is time-dependent and nonlinear. It changes from stable equilibrium to damped and stable cycles with modest adjustments of input parameters. And, it produces the largest sustainable human population at intermediate levels of individual work effort. At equilibrium the forager takes all prey types with a pursuit and handling rate greater than or equal to its maintenance foraging rate. The structural properties of the model compel us to reject standard anthropological interpretations of the carrying capacity concept; they provide new insights on old issues such as original affluence and intensification. Analysis of the interaction of human population, diet selection, and resource depletion requires microecological models in part because the relevant processes occur on time scales largely invisible to both ethnography and archaeology.     

Anselm Kiefer: a study of his artistic materials

The style of the contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer is highly innovative and unconventional and is characterized by the use of diverse materials that he selects and combines according to the emotions that they stir in him. The conservation and preservation of works by Kiefer are particularly difficult tasks because of the heterogeneity and, in some cases, the incompatibility of the materials used; therefore, a thorough characterization is crucial before any intervention is considered. In this paper, we report the results of an investigation on a fragment from a multimaterial work and on samples from the paintings Bohemia Lies by the Sea and Die Größe Fracht. The large fragment was cut by the artist himself from a work in progress and is considered destitute of any artistic value; therefore, it was possible to sample it extensively. This fragment and the samples from the Die Größe Fracht and Bohemia Lies by the Sea paintings were analyzed by ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence imaging, fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This multitechnique approach allowed us to fully characterize and identify pigments, dyes, and organic components that reflect the diversity of the materials typically chosen by the artist. The results are evaluated in the context of the interview that Antonio Rava had with the Anselm Kiefer in 2000.     

Mediating culture in the Italian literary field 1940s–50s

This introduction lays out the scholarly and methodological context in which to situate the contributions to this special issue. By combining a rigorous scrutiny of hitherto untapped archival sources with a re-examined application of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of culture within the field of periodical studies and publishing history in Italy (1940s–50s), the studies illuminate the complex ways in which journals, periodical editors and the connected publishing houses negotiate cultural practice in a literary field increasingly dominated by the polarization of political discourse.     

Paragone: notes on hegemony and realism in the 1950s

This article focuses on the literary review Paragone and on the debate on realism articulated by the review and by the Cultural Commission of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in the 1950s. By analysing the review’s internal composition, correspondence between its contributors, and records of the PCI’s Cultural Commission, this article highlights a series of issues relating to the debate on realism in the 1950s, as a critical time, in both aesthetic and political terms, for the determination of Italian culture’s identity profile. Specifically, the article discusses the key features of the debate on realism that unfolded in Paragone, and relates these to the debate simultaneously developing within the Cultural Commission. This comparison allows us to argue for a close connection between the aesthetic habitus displayed by an independent review and that embraced by a cultural institution with a distinctly political as well as cultural agenda.     

Directions in Australian Linguistics: A Review Article

Handbook of Australian Languages by R. M. W. Dixon and B. J. Blake (Eds) Canberra, The Australian National University Press, 1979. Pp. i-xviii and 1–390.     

REVIEW

A Picnic with the Natives: Aboriginal-European Relations in the Northern Territory to 1910 By Gordon Reid. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. 1990. Pp. 220.