I watched a program tonight on the Science channel in which Italian
scientists were necropsying mummies from Umbria.  One, a woman, had a
gnarled spine and hands, evidence of rheumatoid arthritis.  But the finding
that overawed the scientists was the 7+cm bladderstone found on x-ray and
removed intact, its claim to fame being it's the largest ever known/found.
The narrator said bladder stones were very common in Umbrians.  While I was
pondering the "why" of this statement, the narrator said the stone indicated
the woman's poverty and poor nutrition--*too little protein and too much
starch!*  Dang, I wish he had elaborated on the sources of the starch or
what the common diet of the Umbrian poor was.  Anybody know?