Acta Palaeomedica. International Journal of Palaeomedicine. Ediz. italiana e inglese (2025). Vol. 1

The second edition of the FAPAB R.C. Congress, held online on 24-25 February 2023, offered a unique and interdisciplinary exploration into the fascinating crossroads of teratology, history, and palaeopathology. This event was not merely a scientific meeting, but a bold intellectual initiative that bridged centuries of human curiosity and medical inquiry into congenital anomalies and their cultural resonance. Under the unifying theme "La teratologia: storia e paleopatologia", the congress brought together historians of medicine, pathologists, anthropologists, classicists, and anatomists from diverse academic backgrounds and institutions. It was a testament to the vitality of historical medical studies that so many disciplines could converse productively under the aegis of one core theme: the monstrous, the malformed, the marvellous - and what these bodies have signified through time. The sessions reflected a wide-ranging and nuanced dialogue. From ancient Roman silences on teratology to Paracelsian alchemical theories, from anatomical museums and Renaissance foetuses to modern palaeopathological diagnostics of Klippel-Feil syndrome, the congress traversed continents and centuries.