Djeho, the Egyptian God's dancer with dwarfism from the thirtieth dynasty.

This manuscript presents some artistic and medical considerations about a representation of an individual with apparent dwarfism. He was found in Saqqara by the British Egyptologist James Edward Quibell, in 1910/11. The naked figure of this individual, Djeho, is carved in profile on the lid of his sarcophagus. He has a height of 120 cm and has characteristic clinical features suggesting achondroplasia.

Deepening Inside the Pictorial Layers of Etruscan Sarcophagus of Hasti Afunei: An Innovative Micro-Sampling Technique for Raman/SERS Analyses.

The Hasti Afunei sarcophagus is a large Etruscan urn, made up of two chalky alabaster monoliths. Dated from the last quarter of the third century BC, it was found in 1826 in the small town of Chiusi (Tuscany- Il Colle place) by a landowner, Pietro Bonci Casuccini, who made it part of his private collection. The noble owner's collection was sold in 1865 to the Royal Museum of Palermo (today under the name of Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum), where it is still displayed. The sarcophagus is characterized by a complex iconography that is meticulously illustrated through an excellent sculptural technique, despite having subjected to anthropic degradation and numerous restorative actions during the last century. During the restoration campaign carried out between 2016 and 2017, a targeted diagnostic campaign was carried out to identify the constituent materials of the artefact, the pigments employed and the executive technique, in order to get an overall picture of conservation status and conservative criticalities. In particular, this last intervention has allowed the use of the innovative micro-sampling technique, patented by the Cultural Heritage research group of Sapienza, in order to identify the employee of lake pigments through SERS analyses. Together with this analysis, Raman and NMR technique have completed the information requested by restorers, for what concerns the wax employed as protective layers, and allowed to rebuild the conservation history of the sarcophagus. In fact, together with the identification of red ocher and yellow ocher, carbon black, Egyptian blue and madder lake, pigments compatible with the historical period of the work, modern pigments (probably green Paris, chrome orange, barium yellow, blue phtalocyanine) have been recognized, attributable with not documented intervention during the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.

Cortical onlay strut allograft with cerclage wiring of periprosthetic fractures of the humerus without stem loosening: technique and preliminary results.

The goal of this study was to describe an internal fixation technique for periprosthetic humeral fractures using a cortical onlay strut allograft stabilized with cerclage wires and to evaluate the preliminary results of this approach. An anterolateral approach was used to direct access the fracture and to protect the radial nerve. The fracture was reduced with two forceps, under visual control. The fracture was surrounded by two hemicylinder tibial allografts, placed around the humerus with no prior reaming to create a "sarcophagus" system. The allograft was as long as possible for optimal mechanical stability, without creating impingement with the glenoid and the elbow. Final fixation of the allograft was obtained with two cerclage wires. The arm was immobilized in a simple sling. Passive then active rehabilitation was begun after 1 month. Six women, mean age 74.3 ± 10.9 years old, were included in the study between 2013 and 2015 with a mean follow-up of 10 ± 2 months. Bone union was obtained in all patients after 6 months of follow-up with no recurrent fractures.

[A sarcophagus with a surprise: computed tomography of a mummy from the Late Period of ancient Egypt]. / Un sarcófago con sorpresa: estudio con tomografía computarizada de una momia egipcia de Baja Época.

INTRODUCTION: Diagnostic imaging techniques, at present especially computed tomography (CT), have become the most important noninvasive method for the study of mummies because they enable high resolution images and three-dimensional reconstructions without damaging the mummified subject. We present a sarcophagus with a mummy hidden inside that was acquired by a gallery in Barcelona. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sarcophagus and mummy were examined by CT at the Hospital Universitari Sagrat Cor in Barcelona. A flexible clamp was used to obtain tissue samples for further study. RESULTS: The results showed the presence of an anatomically intact female human subject albeit with a destructured thorax and upper abdomen. Various metal objects were detected, corresponding to amulets, artificial eyes, and an external wooden brace. CONCLUSION: CT is an excellent noninvasive imaging technique for the detailed study of mummies, as it enables not only the anatomic identification of the mummified subject but also the obtainment of tissue samples for complementary analyses. The description of these findings enables us to know the major radiologic landmarks for the paleopathologic study of mummies.