International Journal of Paleopathology最新文献

Objective

To identify and interpret computed tomography (CT) findings of postmortem changes in ancient Egyptian child mummies.

Materials

Whole-body CT examinations of 21 ancient Egyptian child mummies from German (n = 18), Italian (n = 1), and Swiss museums (n = 2).

Methods

Conspicuous CT findings from prior evaluations with various research questions that were assessed as postmortem changes were classified, and special cases were illustrated and discussed.

Results

Postmortem changes were classified into several categories. From these, individuals with evidence of invasion of resin/oil/tar into bone, dried fluid-levels within bone most likely due to natron, probable interaction of natron with soft tissues and bone, as well as insect infestation were demonstrated.

Conclusions

One challenge of paleoradiology is to differentiate between intravital and postmortem changes, which can be multifarious. These changes can be obvious, but also subtle, and can mimic diseases.

Significance

The provided classification of postmortem changes, as well as the demonstrated cases, may serve as models for further paleoradiological investigations. The dried intraosseous fluid levels in two mummies, most likely due to natron, suggests that these children were immersed in a liquid natron bath, in contrast to the current scientific view that natron for mummification was routinely applied in the solid form.

Limitations

CT was used as the only examination method, as sampling of the mummies was not possible.

Suggestions for further research

The awareness that postmortem changes on CT images of ancient Egyptian mummies might mimic pathology should be raised to reduce or avoid incorrect interpretation.

Objective

To identify, critically analyse and describe severe bilateral skeletal pathology involving the ossa coxae of an individual from historic era Cape Town.

Materials

A single individual from the University of Cape Town’s Human Skeletal Repository was analysed under research approval (HREC# 035/2021).

Methods

An osteobiography was constructed, radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses were conducted. Pathological description and contextualised disability analyses followed, along with differential diagnosis. The pelvis and femora were visualised macroscopically and radiographically.

Results

This individual was a non-European middle-aged adult male who lived in the 17–18th centuries CE. Morphological changes showed hypoplastic hips with collapsed femoral heads and neoacetabulae. A diagnosis of developmental dysplasia of the hips (DDH) was made. Then a contextualised disability analysis including consideration of the clinical and functional impacts of the condition were applied. No signs of maltreatment, physiological stress or persistent infections were present. His bones were well developed, illustrating mobility and use.

Conclusions

He developed DDH early in life and lived through adulthood, and his strong, healthy bones suggest resilience, some mobility and contribution to society through less physically demanding tasks.

Significance

Value for palaepathological analyses to inform and understand disability and culturally significant health mediation to offer a more objective interpretation and improve understanding of past people. It expands our understanding of the presence of DDH globally and in Africa and provides insight into disease impact for individuals with bilateral expression.

Suggestions for future research

Further contextual research is required.

Limitations

Poor scene recovery hindered in-depth care analysis and interpretation of the condition.

Objectives

Distal fractures of the humerus and their complications have rarely been described or analysed in the palaeopathological literature. The objective of this study was to evaluate two cases of distal humeral fracture with associated cubitus valgus observed in two individuals from the context of the Later Stone Age (LSA) in southern Africa.

Materials

Skeletal remains of two individuals. A middle-aged female radiocarbon dated to c.160 BP and a middle-aged male radiocarbon dated to c.2 300 BP.

Methods

Remains were macroscopically and radiographically assessed for injury.

Results

Both cases presented with healed antemortem injury to the right elbow attributed to possible falls. Distal humeral fracture resulted in non-union of the lateral epicondyle with extensive morphological changes to the elbow joint including an increased carrying angle. Morphological and osteoarthritic changes suggest a survival period of several years post-injury.

Significance

Cubitus valgus following traumatic injury has rarely been reported amongst historic or prehistoric populations. The described injuries would have had physical and functional consequences, raising questions relating to probable care received during the healing process. The elbow injuries would have resulted in restricted motion and instability of the elbow joint, with a high likelihood of ulnar neuropathy.

Limitations

The contextual information for these individuals is limited and do not permit broader population level study.

Suggestions for further research

Formal biomechanical analysis including cross-sectional geometry analysis will provide further information regarding complications and strengthen the diagnosis of ulnar neuropathy. Further research is necessary on the prevalence and complications of humeral fracture.

Objective

Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that is regularly assessed in modern human and non-human populations in saliva, blood, and hair as a measure of stress exposure and stress reactivity. While recent research has detected cortisol concentrations in modern and archaeological permanent dental tissues, the present study assessed human primary (deciduous) teeth for cortisol concentrations.

Materials and Methods

Fifty-one dentine and enamel samples from nine modern and 10 archaeological deciduous teeth were analyzed for cortisol concentrations via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results

Detectable concentrations of cortisol were identified in 15 (of 32) dentine and 8 (of 19) enamel samples coming from modern and archaeological deciduous teeth.

Conclusions

This study is the first known analysis of cortisol from deciduous dental tissues, demonstrating the potential to identify measurable concentrations.

Significance

The ability to analyze deciduous teeth is integral to developing dental cortisol methods with multiple potential future applications, including research on the biological embedding of stress in the skeleton. This study marks a key step in a larger research program to study stress in primary dentition from living and archaeological populations.

Limitations

Multiple samples generated cortisol values that were not detectable with ELISA. Minimum quantities of tissue may be required to generate detectable levels of cortisol.

Suggestions for Further Research

Future research should include larger sample sizes and consideration of intrinsic biological and extrinsic preservation factors on dental cortisol. Further method validation and alternative methods for assessing dental cortisol are needed.

Objective

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential genetic etiology of cribra orbitalia noted on human skeletal remains.

Materials

We obtained and analyzed ancient DNA of 43 individuals with cribra orbitalia. The analyzed set represented medieval individuals from two cemeteries in western Slovakia, Castle Devín (11th-12th century AD) and Cífer-Pác (8th-9th century AD).

Methods

We performed a sequence analysis of 5 variants in 3 genes associated with anemia (HBB, G6PD, PKLR), which are the most common pathogenic variants in present day of European populations, and one variant MCM6:c.1917 + 326 C>T (rs4988235) associated with lactose intolerance.

Results

DNA variants associated with anemia were not found in the samples. The allele frequency of MCM6:c.1917 + 326 C was 0.875. This frequency is higher but not statistically significant in individuals displaying cribra orbitalia compared to individuals without the lesion.

Significance

This study seeks to expand our knowledge of the etiology of cribra orbitalia by exploring the potential association between the lesion and the presence of alleles linked to hereditary anemias and lactose intolerance.

Limitations

A relatively small set of individuals were analyzed, so an unequivocal conclusion cannot be drawn. Hence, although it is unlikely, a genetic form of anemia caused by rare variants cannot be ruled out.

Suggestions for Further Research

Genetic research based on larger sample sizes and in more diverse geographical regions.

Objective

This article evaluates the prevalence of lesions in a modern osteological collection of guanacos (Lama guanicoe) and discusses the potential of paleopathological data to assess human intervention and environmental stress.

Materials

A modern osteological collection of guanacos (NISP = 862) from north-western Córdoba, Central Argentina.

Methods

The prevalence of pathological specimens per skeletal element and the pathological index (Bartosiewicz et al., 1997) was used. The prevalence of arthropathies, trauma and infections was quantified. Additionally, thorn lesions in the autopodium were recorded.

Results

11.03 % of the specimens presented pathological changes and the mean pathological index was 0.01. Degenerative lesions were the most prevalent type (10.34 %), followed by traumatic (0.81 %) and infectious pathologies (0.12 %). Thorn lesions (2.55 %) were recorded especially in metapodials.

Conclusions

Guanacos are exposed to the development of degenerative lesions, mainly in the autopodium and vertebrae. These lesions are probably common in camelids and should not be used to argue human management. Traumatic and infectious lesions are less frequent.

Significance

This work provides baseline information for the paleopathological study of South American camelids and contributes to the characterization of a regionally endangered species.

Limitations

The nature of the faunal assemblage did not allow for direct correlations between pathologies and individual variables such as sex or age.

Suggestions for further research

The comparison of our results with other wild and domesticated modern populations would be valuable to expand the baseline information for paleopathological studies. The use of quantitative methods is encouraged for future comparative and diachronic studies.

Objective

Overall, paleopathology trails behind related fields in exploring sex, gender, and sexuality in past societies. Here, we interrogatively synthesize scholarship on topics not included in similar reviews, focusing on sex estimation methods, and considering the social determinants of health; trauma; reproduction and family; and childhood – to highlight novel, social epidemiology- and social theory-informed frameworks and interpretive devices.

Conclusions

Many paleopathological interpretations focus on sex-gender differences relative to health, with increasing use of intersectionality. Others consistently project present-day ideologies about sex, gender, and sexuality (e.g., binary sex-gender systems) into paleopathological interpretations (i.e., presentism).

Significance

Paleopathologists have an ethical imperative to generate scholarship that contributes to social justice initiatives focused on dismantling structural inequalities, especially relative to sex, gender, and sexuality (e.g., homophobia), such as through denaturalizing presentist binary systems. They also have a responsibility towards greater inclusivity relative to researcher identity and diversification of method and theory.

Limitations

In addition to material limitations complicating reconstructions of sex, gender, and sexuality relative to health and disease in the past, this review wasn’t comprehensive. The review was also limited by the relative paucity of paleopathological work on these topics.

Suggestions for Future Research: The outlook for paleopathological research on sex, gender, and sexuality is, however, positive; paleopathology is well situated to tackle these aspects of social identity. Future work should consider critical, self-reflective movement away from presentism; more robust contextualization; and further engagement with social theory and social epidemiology theory and approaches, including the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), social determinants of health, and intersectionality.

Objective

To test the hypothesis that a bioarchaeological focus on health-related care provision can contribute to the currently limited understanding of social practice in Early Anglo-Saxon England (mid5th-early7th centuries AD).

Materials

Published descriptions of pathology in 69 adult remains from the Early Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Worthy Park, southern England.

Methods

Three case studies (one examining likely need for care at an individual level and two at a population level) were undertaken using the bioarchaeology of care approach.

Results

Analyses indicate likely care provision (‘direct support’ and/or ‘accommodation of difference’) to Worthy Park individuals experiencing temporary or permanent disability. Interpretation suggests community interdependence, cooperation, flexibility and tolerance of difference, as well as cultural and socioeconomic mechanisms for managing physical and social challenges of ageing.

Conclusions

This study provides proof of concept that bioarchaeology of care analysis can offer new insights into social practice in this period.

Significance

This study demonstrates that a bioarchaeological focus on caregiving behaviours in an Early Anglo-Saxon community extends modern thinking about social relations in post-Roman Britain, offering a model for future investigations into social practice in this, and potentially other, periods. More generally, it illustrates the richness of results achievable when combining bioarchaeological and historical research.

Limitations

Reliance on secondary sources limited detail (and potentially accuracy) of interpretation possible.

Suggestions for further research

This study’s approach should be further tested and refined, either through application to different Anglo-Saxon (or other historic) populations or in a more thorough analysis of the Worthy Park sample itself.

Objective

Paleopathological analysis is combined with ethnohistorical, ethnographic and ethnomedical reports to assess the sociocultural implications for a historical nomadic Bedouin female following her survival of a below-knee amputation and multiple injuries to the stump.

Materials

A middle-aged female recovered from a nomadic-style burial dated to the Late Ottoman Period (1789–1918) in Jordan’s Wadi ath-Thamad region.

Methods

Macroscopic and radiographic assessment.

Results

A supracondylar femur (Hoffa) fracture, knee complex injury and lower leg amputation were observed on the right lower limb. Other pathological lesions that may have affected movement included bilateral os acromiale, intervertebral disc disease, osteoarthritis and right hook of hamate fracture.

Conclusions

The individual survived a below-knee amputation, two injuries to the stump, and likely experienced lower back pain. Mobility may have been painful, but she likely functioned within the community performing gender-specific daily tasks within the family tent and designated community female workspaces. Ethnohistoric and ethnographic reports suggest that marital demotion by other wives or a return to her father’s tent may have occurred.

Significance

Healed multiple injuries and amputation affecting one limb are rare in paleopathological literature.

Limitations

It is uncertain whether the amputation or either of the stump injuries occurred during the same event. If they resulted from separate events, slight hip joint osteoarthritis suggests that the amputation preceded the other injuries.

Suggestions for further research

Full pathological assessment of individuals with amputations may provide additional insight into impairment resolution, health problems and injury arising from impairment following amputation.

Objective

To characterize patterns in the taxonomic diversity of parasites infecting the population of Aalst, Belgium, between the 12th and 17th centuries.

Materials

14 sediment samples from seven cesspits dated 1100–1700 CE.

Methods

Digital light microscopy and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results

We identified eggs of four species of helminths: whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), Echinostoma fluke and Dicrocoelium fluke. ELISA results for protozoal parasites were negative.

Conclusions

Taxonomic diversity of parasite infections remained constant from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Roundworm and whipworm, spread by poor sanitation, were dominant. Two species of zoonotic parasites were also identified, including for the first time ever in the Low Countries the Echinostoma fluke, which may have been spread by eating uncooked freshwater animal foods.

Significance

Analysis of sediment samples spanning such a broad chronology (six centuries) from a single city offers the opportunity to track diachronic change, which is rare in paleoparasitological studies.

Limitations

We were unable to acquire samples from cesspits dating to the 14th century.

Suggestions for further research

Additional data from other Low Countries towns may strengthen the patterns identified in this paper. A similar approach can be used to investigate towns in different regions of the world.