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A probable case of metastatic carcinoma in the medieval Netherlands
Publication date: Available online 8 June 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Rachel Schats, Menno Hoogland, Andrea Waters-RistAbstractDespite recent considerable gains, our knowledge of cancer in antiquity is still limited. This paper discusses an adult individual from a Dutch medieval hospital site who demonstrates osteoblastic and osteolytic lesions on the ribs, scapula, clavicle, and vertebrae. The morphology, radiographic appearance, and distribution of the skeletal lesions suggest that this individual was affected by metastatic carcinoma. This case increases the number of publications that p...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Therapeutic tattooing in the Arctic: Ethnographic, archaeological, and ontological frameworks of analysis
Publication date: Available online 13 June 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Lars KrutakAbstractThis essay describes the potential for using ethnographic evidence and mummified tattooed skin to reflect on past therapeutic tattoo practice in the Arctic. It also considers the ways in which circumpolar concepts of disease emerged in relation to the agency of nonhuman entities. I argue that specific forms of curative tattooing offer interpretive models for the paleopathological and bioarchaeological study of care through an ontological framework of analysis. (Source: International Journal of Paleopathology)
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Shoulder osteoarthritis in a European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens) from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen (Germany)
Publication date: Available online 8 July 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Luc A.A. Janssens, Ivo K.A. Verheijen, Jordi Serangeli, Thijs van KolfschotenAbstractEvaluation of a right ventral scapula fragment from a mature Homotherium latidens from Schöningen, Germany (337–300 ka before present - MIS 9) revealed lesions consisting of an osteophyte at the caudal border of the glenoid cavity, and a large, multilobular, cystic feature in the medio-caudal glenoid cavity. Based on the type of lesions, their localization, their severity, and exclusion of several nutritional and other etiologies such...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Identifying small pelvic inclusions through SEM technology
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Emilio González-Reimers, Emilio González-Arnay, María Castañeyra-Ruiz, Matilde Arnay-de-la-RosaAbstractTiny calcified structures may be occasionally recovered during excavation of human skeletal remains. Since taphonomic processes may displace these structures from their topographical relation with neighbouring organs or bones, differential diagnoses may pose a major challenge to the archeologist and/or anthropologist. Enteroliths, kidney stones or gallstones, phleboliths, calcified ganglia, or sesamoid bones account fo...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Patterns of frailty in non-adults from medieval London
This study uses burials from the St. Mary Spital cemetery (SRP98), London (c. 1120–1540) to examine the relationships among non-adult age at death, burial type (attritional or famine), and four skeletal lesions (porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, linear enamel hypoplasia [LEH], and periosteal new bone formation). Hierarchical log-linear analysis reveals significant associations between famine burials and LEH, independent of age. Significant associations also exist between age and the presence of cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and periosteal lesions, with all three lesions present in greater frequencies amo...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Can early-life growth disruptions predict longevity? Testing the association between vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death
This study tests the association of vertebral neural canal (VNC) size and age-at-death in a Portuguese skeletal collection from the 19th–20th century. If the plasticity and constraint model best explains this association, VNC size would be negatively related to mortality risk. If the predictive adaptive response (PAR) model is a better fit, no association can be inferred between VNC size and age-at-death. Ninety individuals were used in this study. The anteroposterior and transverse diameters of all vertebrae were measured. A Cox regression analysis was performed by sex to assess the effect of VNC size on age-at-death, a...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Elongated odontoid process in late Holocene skeletal remains from B6 archaeological site, Mendoza, Argentina
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): J.A. Suby, P. Novellino, G. Da Peña, C.D. PandianiAbstractThe odontoid process of the axis can be affected by congenital or acquired pathologies. While abnormalities such as os odontoideum, agenesis, and fractures are reported in archaeological remains, the abnormality of an elongated length of the odontoid process has not been described in the paleopathological literature. The aim of this paper is to evaluate two individuals with elongated odontoid processes from a skeletal assemblage from the B6 archaeological site (Mend...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

The relationship of age, activity, and body size on osteoarthritis in weight-bearing skeletal regions
This study examined the simultaneous impact of multiple underlying factors on OA expression in weight-bearing joints of the vertebrae and lower limb of a modern European skeletal sample (Lisbon and Sassari). OA was evaluated using standard ranked categorical scoring; composite OA scores derived through principal component analysis. Body size was calculated from postcranial measurements; torsional strength (J) of the femoral midshaft was calculated from three-dimensional surface models, size standardized and used as a proxy for activity. A standard multiple regression was applied.In all regions, the linear combination of ag...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Prehistoric polydactylism: Biological evidence and rock art representation from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Vivien G. Standen, Calogero M. Santoro, Bernardo Arriaza, Daniela Valenzuela, Drew Coleman, Susana MonsalveAbstractA review of the bioarchaeological collections from the site Morro de Arica in northern Chile allowed the identification of two cases of human polydactyly. Both cases are from the Chinchorro culture, hunters, fishers, and gatherers with a maritime orientation who inhabited the coast of the Atacama Desert (9000–3400 BP). Additionally, the analyses of 75 rock art sites in the area, from the Formative to Late I...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Death on a Napoleonic battlefield – Peri-mortem trauma in soldiers from the Battle of Aspern 1809
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Michaela Binder, Leslie QuadeAbstractOn the 21st–22nd of May1809 Napoleon Bonaparte saw his first major defeat on land at the Battle of Aspern, just north-east of Vienna. Of the 167,000 soldiers who fought for the French and Austrian armies, a total of 55,000 died on the battlefield. Salvage excavations prior to the construction of large urban development project (2008–2016) have revealed several burial sites related to the Battle of Aspern. The skeletal remains of 30 soldiers were excavated and underwent a detailed bio...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Evidence of aortic dissection and Marfan syndrome in a mummy from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Stephanie Panzer, Randall C. Thompson, Klaus Hergan, Albert R. Zink, Dario Piombino-MascaliAbstractThe authors report on the assessment of an anthropogenic mummy of a young man from the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, tentatively dated from the mid- to late 19th century AD. The mummy was investigated by full-body CT examination. CT images clearly showed aortic dissection classified as Stanford-A. Due to the relation of aortic dissection to inherited connective tissue diseases in young people, such as Marfan syndrome,...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly male from the Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (Setúbal, Portugal)
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Nathalie Antunes-Ferreira, Carlos Prates, Francisco CurateAbstractIn modern populations, hip fractures in older people are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Their incidence is rising; notwithstanding, fractures of the proximal femur are still relatively uncommon in archeological contexts. This case study represents a well-healed hip fracture in an aged male skeleton from Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (16th–19th centuries AD) in Setúbal (Portugal). The individual was also diagnosed with diffuse idiopath...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Paleoparasitology and pathoecology in Russia: Investigations and perspectives
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Sergey Slepchenko, Karl ReinhardAbstractRussia, both as the USSR and the Russian federation, provided a source of parasitological theory for decades. A key figure in Russian parasitology was Yevgeny Pavlovsky. He developed the nidus concept of Pavlovsky provided the conceptual basis for the field of pathoecology. He also coined the term “Paleoparasitology”. Pathoecology is a foundation concept in archaeological parasitology. Paleoparasitology, as defined by Pavlovsky, is an avenue for understanding of host parasite evol...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Life on a Napoleonic battlefield: A bioarchaeological analysis of soldiers from the Battle of Aspern, Austria
Publication date: September 2018Source: International Journal of Paleopathology, Volume 22Author(s): Leslie Quade, Michaela BinderAbstractOn the 21st–22nd of May 1809, French and Austrian soldiers engaged in battle near the village of Aspern on the outskirts of Vienna. This battle, the first defeat of Napoleon’s army on land, was one of the largest and deadliest encounters during the Napoleonic Wars (1798–1815). Salvage excavations between 2009 and 2016 have revealed several battlefield burial sites in Aspern. The remains of 30 individuals were evaluated for a series of pathological conditions which develop during ch...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 10, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research

Shoulder osteoarthritis in a European saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens) from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen (Germany)
Publication date: Available online 8 July 2018Source: International Journal of PaleopathologyAuthor(s): Luc A.A. Janssens, Ivo K.A. Verheijen, Jordi Serangeli, Thijs van KolfschotenAbstractEvaluation of a right ventral scapula fragment from a mature Homotherium latidens from Schöningen, Germany (337–300 ka before present - MIS 9) revealed lesions consisting of an osteophyte at the caudal border of the glenoid cavity, and a large, multilobular, cystic feature in the medio-caudal glenoid cavity. Based on the type of lesions, their localization, their severity, and exclusion of several nutritional and other etiologies such...
Source: International Journal of Paleopathology - July 8, 2018 Category: Pathology Source Type: research