NATIONAL PHD IN HERITAGE SCIENCE

Thesis title: Resti umani scheletrici e musei. Comportamento, percezione ed emozioni dei pubblici.

The display of archaeological human remains in museums raises considerable interest and curiosity among visitors. At the same time, it poses ethical and cultural questions owing to the symbolic, scientific and identity-related values that such remains may embody. Visitors’ behavioural and emotional responses to skeletal human remains and their associated facial depictions constitute a research area that remains largely underexplored. In recent years, the conception of the museum experience has undergone a significant evolution: curatorial attention is no longer directed solely at communicating the collection itself, but at the dynamic relationship between the exhibition pathway and the visitor. However, this human-centred approach has not yet been systematically applied to museum contexts displaying human skeletal remains. The present doctoral project aims to contribute to the development of this research area by applying this approach to the Archaeological Hall of the Museo Colle del Duomo in Viterbo, which contains a burial area with two exposed crania (T3 and T9, dated between the 8th and 18th centuries). The study pursues several complementary objectives: to reconstruct the biological and palaeopathological profile and craniofacial morphology of the two individuals in order to infer their probable physical appearance; to investigate the behavioural dynamics and cognitive and emotional responses of adult visitors to skeletal human remains, before and after the introduction of exhibition panels containing facial depictions and osteobiographical information; to ascertain whether the remains are perceived as museum artefacts or as individuals who lived in the past; and to evaluate the effectiveness of interpretive mediation in enhancing the museum experience and facilitating knowledge transfer. Macroscopic bioanthropological and palaeopathological analysis determined male sex for both individuals and estimated age at death between 45 and 55 years for T3 and between 18 and 25 years for T9; both present oral pathologies, including generalised periodontitis and calculus deposits. T3 exhibits plagiocephaly and degenerative changes of the temporomandibular joint; T9 presents linear enamel hypoplasia. These results enabled the creation of digital facial depictions using a hybrid 2D/3D methodological approach and the drafting of informational panel texts, designed in accordance with cognitive accessibility guidelines. The study is structured in two phases. In the first (Phase 1), the exhibition layout was maintained without interpretive panels; in the second (Phase 2), the panels were introduced. In Phase 1 only, visitors were able to access the Hall through two separate entrances, Route A and Route B. In both phases and routes, dwell times and visitors’ behavioural and emotional responses were recorded by means of a computer vision camera system, developed with a privacy-by-design architecture to ensure anonymity, and a 21-item structured questionnaire. The questionnaire is organised into five thematic areas: contextual familiarity, cognitive processes and emotional responses, satisfaction and perception of the display format, ethical awareness, and sociodemographic profile. Dwell times in the Hall were segmented by means of clustering into three interest bands (low interest, medium interest and high interest). In Phase 1A (Route A), the median was 66 s (IQR 36–115), whilst in Phase 1B (Route B) it was 52 s (IQR 30–155). However, the comparison between routes revealed no significant differences in median dwell times (U = 76,254; p = 0.379), although the distribution across interest bands differed significantly (p < 0.001), with Route B being more polarised towards the extremes. In Phase 2A, the median rose to 98 s (IQR 48–210). The comparison between Phase 1A and Phase 2A revealed a significant increase of 48% in median dwell time (p < 0.001), accompanied by a doubling of the proportion of visitors in the high-interest band (from 14.7% to 30.4%). On the cognitive level, in Phase 1A the remains were perceived through a dual interpretive framework, between archaeology (57.14%) and recognition as individuals who lived in the past (56.04%). In Phase 1B, the association with people of the past decreased to 37.14%, with perception more closely linked to the notion of “artefact”. In Phase 2A, the category “individuals who lived in the past” became dominant (69.79%), whilst archaeology declined to 48.96%. Furthermore, in Phase 2A, accuracy in identifying the number of exposed crania improved significantly (from 65.96% to 82.47%; p = 0.017). On the emotional level, in Phase 1 Surprise was the only actively reported emotion, with a homogeneous distribution across routes (Mann-Whitney U: all p > 0.05); aversive emotions (Disgust, Anger, Fear) were absent. The comparison between Phase 1A and Phase 2A revealed a significant intensification of Surprise (p = 0.042) and Joy (p = 0.034), as well as of the secondary emotions Nostalgia (p = 0.020) and Hope (p = 0.021), whilst aversive emotions remained absent. A robustness test conducted by excluding the 66+ age group, which was overrepresented in Phase 2A, confirmed the reliability of these findings. The triangulation of behavioural data (cameras) and perceptual data (questionnaire) revealed a coherent convergence: Phase 2A visitors stayed longer, perceived the exhibited remains with greater accuracy, tended to humanise them, and experienced a more nuanced emotional response. These results suggest that the interpretive panels operated as a tool of cognitive and emotional mediation, fostering a more conscious and reflective visitor experience. Consequently, the Museum has since permanently adopted the new exhibition layout, demonstrating how academic research can have a direct impact on museum practice. This study also contributes to the scholarly debate on the display of human remains, its associated ethical implications and the effectiveness of communication strategies, and opens avenues for future development, including the application of the protocol to other museum contexts and the extension of the investigation to underage visitors, in order to verify the generalisability of the results. The integration of bioanthropological data, facial depictions and accessible communication fostered the recognition of past individuals as persons, transforming the encounter with skeletal remains into an experience of connection and reflection on our shared human condition.