A pathological lesion or a postmortem artefact? An interdisciplinary approach to deal with an interesting early medieval case

Objective

This study evaluates a case of pseudopathology and the effects that postmortem taphonomic changes and environmental influences can have on bone.

Material

A skeleton of a young male from the early medieval site Staré Město, dated to the 9th–10th century CE.

Methods

The skeletal remains were subjected to detailed macroscopic and X-ray examination, and then a CT scan and XRF analysis were performed.

Results

X-ray examination of the mandible revealed unusually dense structures, whose appearance was not consistent with any known pathology. Based on the results of CT scanning, it was hypothesized that these were cavities filled with alluvial sediment. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), focusing on the determination of the silica content, revealed a high intensity of silica in the samples of the affected area of the bone.

Conclusion

The hypothesis that the inclusions were composed of waterborne sediment was supported.

Significance

Although it is well known that soil can infiltrate bones buried in the ground, its appearance on plain radiographs is not that commonly known. The case illustrates the usefulness of differentiating true pathologies from postmortem alterations to avoid inappropriate interpretations.

Limitations

No similar cases have been described.

Suggestion for further research

In palaeopathological evaluation, the use of multiple imaging and evaluative techniques should be implemented to differentiate pathological lesions from pseudopathology.