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Sicilian protohistory was characterized by a progressive flow of indigenous populations towards the hills of the western Sicilian hinterland. Especially during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the island's hinterland was marked by isolated settlements due to Siculi, Ausoni, Morgeti, and Elimi invasions and Phoenician and Greek colonization. In this scenario, Mokarta is an example of territorial autonomy and ethnic isolation (Sicanian) within an area of Elimi colonization. Its demise in the 11th century B.C.E, presumably at the hands of the Elimi, was rapid and violent as the settlement was suddenly abandoned following its destruction by fire. Symbolic of this event is an individual found at the entrance of a burned and collapsed hut who appears to have died from a cranial injury. This paper focuses on the osteological analysis of this skeleton, highlighting the perimortem injury, related to his death, and places the results within a forensic archeological context. The morphological pattern of the lesion is the result of a high‐energy impact by a circular blunt object. The fracture, involving both the meningeal vessels and the brain, could have led to a fatal neurological trauma. The analysis of the cranial fracture and an anatomical evaluation of the affected area led us to conclude that the perimortem injury, inflicted on the right parietal, probably was the cause of death. The case proposed highlights how an integrated approach based on bioarcheology and forensic anthropology helps in interpreting an archeological scenario and formulating hypotheses about the circumstances of an individual's death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a case of accidental retrieval of osteological remains by the police for which the intervention of specialised diagnostic skills is required in order to efficiently serve the justice system, leading to a correct identification of the examined species. In this instance two fused osteological elements were preliminarily considered by a coroner to be potentially belonging to the human species and could only be determined not to be so -- belonging instead to a non-human animal species -- by applying comparative osteological methodology. The discussed case also offers relevant insights into the taphonomic alterations caused by the environment in which the remains lay. Finally, a rational education and professional workflow is suggested to optimize diagnostic situations like the one in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a geochemical and mineralogical point of view, iron-rich materials do not constitute real deposits but are found as rare inclusions in the carbonate, in the marl of clay formations or pebbles in marine terraces. These minerals have different origins and compositions; they are ankerite, ferroan dolomite and goethite, and substances produced by iron bacteria. The thing they have in common is that they all contain iron in modest to high quantities. These rare minerals and the fact that they are often not present in geological maps and literature often lead to them being overlooked in the search for the raw materials that led to the production of ochre pigments used in prehistoric contexts. The aim of this work is the search for potential raw materials used as a pigment for a red band painted pebble, found when a surface survey in Contrada Mandrascava (Agrigento, Sicily). Since in the area, there are no deposits of iron minerals, we documented and described rare findings of ferruginous colouring materials found in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]