The presumed skull of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths (AD 516–534): Questioning of a century-old attribution and paleopathological study

The "Luigi Cattaneo" Museum of Anatomical Waxes of the University of Bologna houses a skull (Figure 1a, 3D virtual reconstruction Figure 1d) labelled as Skull of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths (Cranio di Atalarico, Re degli Ostrogoti), which represents the object of the present analysis, aimed at assessing the genuineness of the attribution as well as the health status of this individual. To achieve this goal, a multidisciplinary approach including historical, archival, anthropological, paleopathological, paleoradiological analyses and radiocarbon dating was implemented.