History of the Collection of Physical Anthropology in the Natural ...

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Wiedenmayer/Hotz, History of the Collection... Most individuals died aged 20-39; females show a maximum in the age class 30 to 39 years, whereas the males point out a maximum in the age group 20 to 29 years. Over 80% of the 1061 deceased could be identified by means of a death register and the chronological succession of the burials. Thus, names, ages, professions, origin and cause of death are known. Even the developments of sickness are documented. 2. The Galler Collection on skeletal pathology is on permanent loan from the Institute of Pathology of the University of Zurich. The Galler collection consists of 597 mostly macerated bone specimens of all major pathological categories. Figures 3 gives an overview of the demography of the Galler collection. The oldest part of the Galler Collection dated back to the time of the foundation of the University of Zurich (1833). An important part of the Galler collection comprises patients from the area of Zurich, and was assembled in the first half of the 20th century following autopsies at the Department of Pathology, University Hospital Zurich. This institution served for a rural and urban population of approximately one million persons. 216 of the specimens are male, 177 female and the rest of unknown sex (specimen mostly dating back to the beginning of the collection). Most individuals died aged 50-79; females show a maximum in the age class 60 to 69 years, whereas the males show a maximum in the age group 50 to 59 years. The two oldest individuals, both females, were aged 92 and 99 years. Two males and two females of the Galler collection are of unknown age. Furthermore, some children (eight males and three females) and young adults (eleven males and six females) are represented. The collection was known to specialists in Switzerland and abroad already while housed in Zurich. Its international knowledge increased with the publication of the influential textbook 50 distribution of female and mal individuals per age class 40 females males 30 20 10 0 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 age unknown age class (year) Fig. 3: Demography of the Galler Collection (216 males, 177 females; 204 individuals with unknown age / sex). 44
Bull. Soc. Suisse d’Anthrop. 8(1), 41-53. by Ortner and Putschar, 1985, in which several photographs of Galler objects are reproduced (numbers with the prefix IPAZ). It has attracted several visiting palaeopathologists from Switzerland and the USA, to study various pathological conditions represented. Fig. 4: Dysmelia of the extremities. Split of the right femur from the middle onwards. Congenital absence of both tibiae with hypoplastic fibulae. Phocomelia of both foots, on both sides are only one toe developed (male specimen, 49 years old; Galler-Nr. 222). Objects from this collection are regularly used in workshops in this museum, twice yearly for university students and professionals also from other Swiss cantons and from Germany, led 45
Page 1 and 2: Bull. Soc. Suisse d’Anthrop. 8(1)
Page 3: Bull. Soc. Suisse d’Anthrop. 8(1)

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