Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology: Perspectives from Italy

Abstract

Giving a perspective on forensic anthropology in Italy is, to say the least, difficult owing to the fact that academic and professional aspects are confused. However, there is a bright side: after years of painstaking insistence pathologists, magistrates, and judges are beginning to understand and appreciate the discipline and its expertise. In addition, the recognition of contributions that forensic anthropology can make to examinations of the living is steadily increasing (for example, facial identification), creating more demand for anthropologists within forensic contexts. Although forensic anthropology in the Italian setting can still be considered as “developing,” the medicolegal culture is slowly changing, and ever more often descriptions of forensic scenarios include the words anthropology and archaeology. This chapter provides a brief history of forensic anthropology in Italy and illustrates the present status through examples of operative cases concerning several fields of application.