Skeletal Markers of Physiological Stress as Indicators of Structural Violence: A Comparative Study between the Deceased Migrants of the Mediterranean Sea and the CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Although violence is generally understood in its direct form (as physical violence), this is not its only manifestation. Indirect or structural violence results from unequal access to resources and leads to poor quality of health, which may be visible on skeletal remains through various markers. In this paper, three of these markers which may reflect structural violence were examined on skeletal samples of migrants who died during the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea and Italian-born individuals from the CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection. Results showed that these stress markers were more common and more severe among migrants than non-migrants. The analysis and recognition of such markers in forensic contexts can improve the biological profile by considering the biological effects of cultural, political, and social living conditions. ABSTRACT: Structural violence is an indirect form of violence that can lead to physiological consequences. Interestingly, these physiological disruptions may affect the skeletons and can therefore provide relevant information on violence and way of life in the analysis of skeletal remains. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that migrants who died in the Mediterranean Sea would present physiological cranial stress markers such as cribra orbitalia (CO), porotic hyperostosis (PH), and linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) more frequently and more severely than Italians of the 20th century. With this intent, a total of 164 crania were examined: 139 from deceased migrants recovered from a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, aged between 16 and 35 years old, and 25 of the same age from the CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection. Both presence and severity of CO, PH, and LEH were evaluated. The data obtained were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and independence Chi-squared tests to compare the results between the two samples and to test whether there was an association between the sample of migrants and the occurrence of lesions. As a result, CO and PH appeared more frequently and more severely in the migrant sample. In addition, migrants were significantly associated with CO, PH, and LEH (p-values < 0.05). Although this does not imply in any way that CO, PH, and LEH are specific to migration, they should be regarded as indicators of structural violence.