The Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine: a contemporary osteological collection housed in Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

ABSTRA

Osteological collections are an important resource for the development of methods to assist in the study of skeletal remains in archeological and/or forensic contexts. The aim is to describe the current characteristics of the Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine and its historical context. The Identified Skeletal Collection of the School of Legal Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid consists of 138 male and 95 female individuals, born between 1880 and 1980 and deceased between 1970 and 2009. The minimum age of the sample is perinatal and the maximum age is 97 years. The collection is an essential tool for forensic research, given that its population characteristics can be extrapolated to those of present-day Spain. Access to this collection offers unique teaching opportunities as well as provides the information necessary to develop various lines of research.

History of the name Pygmy and its importance for the Pygmies themselves

Many people and organizations misunderstand the concept behind the name Pygmy. This misunderstanding leads them to misinterpretations and erroneous judgements about its use. This article goes back to the origin of the name in order to clarify the meaning that it has today, especially for the Pygmies themselves. The term 'pygmy' originated in ancient Greece where it was employed for a legendary people who, in Greek mythology, were engaged in an unceasing battle against cranes. Although the morphology of the pygmies described by the ancient Greeks cannot be fully characterized, the term 'pygmy' was used for centuries to refer to a population of small stature living close to the Nile. This led scientists and travellers in modern times to refer to populations of small stature living in equatorial Africa as pygmies. The distinction between Pygmies and non-Pygmies in this region matches the presence of two kinds of populations whose identities are defined in contraposition to one another by socio-cultural aspects. Genetic population studies have suggested that the Pygmies split from non-Pygmy populations around 60,000 years BP. Very importantly, the use of the name Pygmy is gratifying to the Pygmies themselves and it appears in the title of almost all Pygmy rights organizations. The name Pygmy thus covers populations sharing a particular phenotype, having a common origin and thus a biological identity, as well as socio-cultural characteristics which are diverse but nevertheless distinguish them from non-Pygmy populations. Furthermore, the name Pygmy has a dual function for the Pygmies themselves, at once asserting their common identity in contraposition to non-Pygmies ("Big-blacks" as they call them) and conveying their claims against those who despise them, who are the same "Big-blacks".

Taurine surgery in the 21st century from glory to contempt

Bullfighting surgery has gone from being something that the surgeon could be proud of in any setting to being an activity frowned upon from a social point of view, and even in our surgical guild. However, popular bullfighting festivities are still very frequent, with thousands of injured each year, some of them serious. Currently, health care in bullfighting festivals is immersed in a complex problem mainly due to four factors: 1) social and professional discredit; 2) poorly paid professional activity; 3) neglect by professional and academic institutions; and 4) lack of a specific body of doctrine. All this has led to the health care teams in bullfighting surgery being less and less professionalized and more inexperienced, to problems of professional intrusion. Consequently, there is a direct impact on the quality of care provided and on the morbidity and mortality rates of injured participants, with the legal implications that this entails. A restructuring of this situation and the support of professional institutions, especially Medical Associations, and academic institutions, is necessary.