Multi-level spondylolysis at Egiin Gol: A case from Xiongnu period Mongolia

IF 1.3 3区地球科学 Q3 PALEONTOLOGY International Journal of Paleopathology Pub Date : 2025-02-05 DOI:10.1016/j.ijpp.2025.02.002

Angela R. Lieverse , Iderkhangai Tumur-Ochir , Orgilbayar Samdantsoodol , Tatiana Nomokonova , Robert Losey

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Abstract

Objective

This paper presents and discusses the aetiology of an extreme case of multi-level spondylolysis with unique presentation.

Materials

The affected individual is an adult male from Xiongnu period (209 BCE to 93 CE) Egiin Gol, northern Mongolia.

Methods

Analyses were limited to macroscopic and non-invasive methods.

Results

Seven complete spondylolytic clefts were documented on four vertebrae between T12 and L4, with only one located on L4, where most cases of spondylolysis occur, and four defects had atypical morphology. Evidence of spondylolisthesis was also observed.

Conclusions

Congenital susceptibility to spondylolysis, combined with a physically demanding lifestyle, likely account for the condition’s unusual manifestation.

Significance

The significance of this case its severity (one of the most extreme documented from archaeological contexts) and unusual presentation (location of the clefts and their atypical morphology).

Limitations

Only a small sample (< 30) of Xiongnu period human remains were available for comparison.

Suggestions for further research

Interpretations from this case study would benefit from a more extensive analysis of spondylolysis, biomechanical stress, and acute trauma on the nomadic pastoral populations of northern Mongolia, including those pre-dating and post-dating the Xiongnu.

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来源期刊

International Journal of Paleopathology PALEONTOLOGY-PATHOLOGY

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

25.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.