A short report from the Paleopathology Symposium in Athens

The Paleopathology Symposium held during the XXVII International Congress of the I. A. P. was, by many accounts, an outstanding success. About 30 colleagues were in attendance during the four presentations made by Luca Ventura (L’Aquila, Italy), Dina Tiniakos (Athens, Greece), Pedro Fernàndez (Barcelona, Spain), and Gino Fornaciari (Pisa, Italy). The symposium, properly entitled “Paleopathology in the Mediterranean area”, was chaired by Drs. Tiniakos and Fornaciari and offered a wide range of information about recent mummy studies in three different european countries.
In the evening, all the speakers had a quiet dinner at a wonderful restaurant in the old area of the city, where mezedes, mousakà and souvlaki challenged with a red macedonian wine to restore the scientists’ souls. It is not a case if the word “symposium” has a Greek origin, meaning “drinking with company”. Athens, the cradle of the western civilization and the birthplace of the same concept of “academy”, gave a wonderful scenario to this event. Every single building and stone beneath the Acropolis seemed to contribute to the outcome of the entire congress.
In the following pages are the abstracts of the presentations that we would like to share with the many interested readers of paleopatologia.it.
Finally, a sincere appreciation and acknowledgment has to be tributed to Dr. Dina G. Tiniakos, for her efforts in organizing this wonderful event and a truly special experience.