The frequency and macromorphological classification of abnormal blood vessel impressions and periosteal appositions of the dura mater in an early modern osteological collection from Poland
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引用次数: 1
Abstract
Objective
The macromorphological characteristics and frequency of endocranial abnormal blood vessel impressions (ABVI) and periosteal appositions of dura mater (PADM), and their association with sex, age-at-death and scurvy-like lesions were studied. The possible etiologies of these lesions were discussed.
Materials
A total of 144 adult skulls excavated from an early modern (16th-19th c. CE) cemetery at the Czysty Square in Wrocław (Poland) were examined, most of which were intact.
Methods
The endocranial surface was inspected with an endoscope for the presence, location, and severity of ABVI and PADM. Frequencies of ABVI and PADM were grouped by sex and age-at-death.
Results
A little more than a half (53.5 %) of the examined skulls were affected by ABVI and/or PADM. PADM were more frequent in females. However, both alteration types occurred with similar frequencies across all age-at-death categories.
Conclusions
The high frequency of ABVI and PADM suggests that meningeal infections and/or hemorrhage among inhabitants of early modern Wrocław, especially in females, were common.
Significance
The paper emphasizes the need for using an endoscope in standard anthropological analysis of intact skulls, as it allows for a nondestructive inspection of the endocranial surface.
Limitations
The endoscope did not allow for an accurate examination of the middle cranial fossa.
Suggestions for further research
Comparative studies with other historical populations are necessary to better understand the possible etiologies of macromorphological and demographic characteristics of ABVI and PADM.
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.