Palaeopathological study of five individuals from the Late Antiquity cemetery at Dravlje
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6016/ZdravVestn.2978Keywords:
Paleopathology, Bioarchaeology, Osteology, Late Antiquity, Skeletal variationAbstract
Skeletal remains from archaeological contexts represent a good source of information about the human past. As part of the osteological analysis, palaeopathology plays an important role, significantly complementing the biological profile of an individual and demographic structure of the studied population. Nevertheless, it seems that paleopathological studies in Slovenia are rather scarce. Thus, the presented results of the osteological and paleopathological analysis of five skeletons from Late Antiquity cemetery at Dravlje represents a step towards filling this gap.
In addition to basic biological profiles of individuals, the observed pathological changes and other skeletal variations are described and possible diagnoses presented. Despite a small number of analysed skeletal remains, there was an abundance of observed anomalies. This clearly shows how significant paleopathological studies are for understanding the society, while at the same time confronting researchers with numerous new questions. Besides congenital skeletal variations, such as septal aperture or a high number of pyramidal molars, intentional cranial deformation and numerous pathological changes, from benign tumours and teeth diseases, possible metabolic diseases and bacterial infection to joint diseases, early tissue ossification and unusually high number of torticollis were observed.
The limited number of analysed skeletal remains does not allow the gathered conclusions to be applied to the whole population. Nevertheless, it is obvious that people living in that society had some unusual customs, health issues and/or were of different ethnicity.
Downloads
References
1. Štefančič M. Razvoj raziskav fizične antropologije v Sloveniji. Acta Biol Slov. 2008;51(2):21-33.
2. Roberts CA. Palaeopathology and its relevance to understanding health and disease today: the impact of the environment on health, past and present. Anthropol Rev. 2016;79(1):1-16.
DOI: 10.1515/anre-2016-0001
3. Rott R. Paleopatologija. ISIS. 2014;5:49-54.
4. Wilkinson R, Pickett K. The spirit level: Why equality is better for everyone. London: Penguin Books Ltd; 2010.
5. Park K. Black Death. In: Kiple KF. The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1993. pp. 612-6.
DOI: 10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.078
6. Kastelic KH, Kastelic JG. The socio-economic impacts of Ebola in Liberia: results from a high frequency cell phone survey round five. Working paper. Washington, DC: World Bank Group; 2015.
7. Cohen MN. Health and the Rise of Civilization. Yale: Yale University Press; 1989.
8. Cohen MN, Crane-Kramer GM. Ancient health: skeletal indicators of agricultural and economic intensification. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida; 2007.
9. Armelagos GJ, Cohen MN. Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. Orlando: Academic Press; 1984.
10. Pinhasi R, Stock JT. Human bioarchaeology of the transition to agriculture. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons; 2011.
DOI: 10.1002/9780470670170
11. Molleson T, Cox M. The Anthropology: The Middling Sort. London: Council for British Archaeology; 1993. (Council for British A. The Spitalfields Project. vol 2).
12. Brickley MB, Buteux S. St Martin’s uncovered: investigations in the churchyard of St Martin’s in‐the‐Bullring, Birmingham, 2001. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. Oxford: Oxbow Books; 2006.
13. Roberts CA, Cox M. Health and disease in Britain: from prehistory to the present day. Gloucester: Sutton publishing; 2003.
14. Newman SL, Gowland RL. Dedicated Followers of Fashion? Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Socio-Economic Status, Inequality, and Health in Urban Children from the Industrial Revolution (18th-19th C), England. Int J Osteoarchaeol. 2017;27(2):217-29.
DOI: 10.1002/oa.2531
PMID: 28553062
15. Barrett R, Kuzawa CW, McDade T, Armelagos GJ. Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases: the third epidemiologic transition. Annual Review of Anthropology. 1998;27(1):247-71.
DOI: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.247
16. Stearns SC. Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential. Proceedings Biol Sci. 2012;279(1746):4305-21.
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1326
17. Nesse RM, Williams GC. Why we get sick: The new science of Darwinian medicine. New York: Vintage Books; 1994.
18. Mitchell PD. Retrospective diagnosis and the use of historical texts for investigating disease in the past. Int J Paleopathol. 2011;1(2):81-8.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2011.04.002
PMID: 29539322
19. Wood JW, Milner GR, Harpending HC, Weiss KM, Cohen MN, Eisenberg LE, et al. The Osteological Paradox: Problems of Inferring Prehistoric Health from Skeletal Samples. Curr Anthropol. 1992;33(4):343-70.
DOI: 10.1086/204084
20. DeWitte SN, Stojanowski CM. The Osteological Paradox 20 Years Later: Past Perspectives, Future Directions. J Archaeol Res. 2015;23(4):397-450.
DOI: 10.1007/s10814-015-9084-1
21. Gowland R, Knüsel C. The Social Archaeology of Funerary Remains. Oxford: Oxbow Books; 2009. pp. ix-xiv.
22. Roberts CA, Manchester K. The archaeology of disease. Ithaca: Cornell University Press; 2005.
23. Slabe M, Tomazo-Ravnik T, Pogačnik T. Dravlje grobišče iz časov preseljevanja ljudstev. Situla. 1975;16:143-57.
24. Brickley M, McKinley J. Guidelines to the Standards for Recording Human Remains. Readings: British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology and Institute of Field Archaeologists; 2004. (IFA Paper no. 7).
25. Haas J, Buikstra JE, Ubelaker DH, Aftandilian D; Field Museum of Natural History. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains: Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field Museum of Natural History (Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Report). Fayetteville, Ark: Arkansas Archeological Survey; 1994. 12154 th ed. (Arkansas Archeological Survey research series; no. 44).
26. Işcan MY, Steyn MM. The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. 3rd ed. Springfield (Illinois): Charles C Thomas; 2013.
27. Boldsen JL, Milner GR, Konigsberg LW, Wood JW. Transition analysis: a new method for estimating age from skeletons. In: Hoppa RD, Vaupel JW. Paleodemography: Age Distributions from Skeletal Samples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2002. pp. 73-106.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511542428.005
28. Garvin HM. Adult Sex Determination: Methods and Application. In: Dirkmaat D. A companion to forensic Anthropol. Chichester, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd; 2012.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118255377.ch12
29. AlQahtani SJ, Hector MP, Liversidge HM. Brief communication: the London atlas of human tooth development and eruption. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010;142(3):481-90.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21258
PMID: 20310064
30. İşcan MY, Loth SR, Wright RK. Age estimation from the rib by phase analysis: white males. J Forensic Sci. 1984;29(4):1094-104.
31. Işcan MY, Loth SR, Wright RK. Age estimation from the rib by phase analysis: white females. J Forensic Sci. 1985;30(3):853-63.
PMID: 4031812
32. İşcan MY, Loth SR, Wright RK. Metamorphosis at the sternal rib end: a new method to estimate age at death in white males. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1984;65(2):147-56.
33. Calce SE. A new method to estimate adult age-at-death using the acetabulum. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2012;148(1):11-23.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22026
PMID: 22331613
34. Brooks S, Suchey JM. Skeletal age determination based on the os pubis: A comparison of the Acsádi-Nemeskéri and Suchey-Brooks methods. Hum Evol. 1990;5(3):227-38.
DOI: 10.1007/BF02437238
35. Buckberry JL, Chamberlain AT. Age estimation from the auricular surface of the ilium: a revised method. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2002;119(3):231-9.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10130
PMID: 12365035
36. Lovejoy CO, Meindl RS, Pryzbeck TR, Mensforth RP. Chronological metamorphosis of the auricular surface of the ilium: a new method for the determination of adult skeletal age at death. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1985;68(1):5-28.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330680103
37. Brothwell DR. The relationship of tooth wear to aging. In: İşcan MY. Age Markers Hum. Skelet. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas; 1989. pp. 300-16.
38. Ortner DJ. Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. 2nd ed. San Diego (CA): Academic Press; 2003.
39. Aufderheide AC, Rodrg̕uez-Martí̕n C, Langsjoen O. The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011.
40. Boulle EL. Evolution of two human skeletal markers of the squatting position: a diachronic study from antiquity to the modern age. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001;115(1):50-6.
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1055
PMID: 11309749
41. Brickley M, Ives R. The bioarchaeology of metabolic bone disease. Oxford: Academic Press; 2008.
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-370486-3.00002-0
42. Yang ZP, Yang SF, Lin YC, Shay JC, Chi CY. C-shaped root canals in mandibular second molars in a Chinese population. Endod Dent Traumatol. 1988;4(4):160-3.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-9657.1988.tb00315.x
PMID: 3267526
43. Lambrianidis T, Lyroudia K, Pandelidou O, Nicolaou A. Evaluation of periapical radiographs in the recognition of C-shaped mandibular second molars. Int Endod J. 2001;34(6):458-62.
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2591.2001.00417.x
PMID: 11556513
44. Seo MS, Park DS. C-shaped root canals of mandibular second molars in a Korean population: clinical observation and in vitro analysis. Int Endod J. 2004;37(2):139-44.
DOI: 10.1111/j.0143-2885.2004.00772.x
PMID: 14871181
45. Frančeškin A, Fidler A. Drugi spodnji stalni kočnik s korenino oblike C. Zobozdrav Vestn. 2006;61:3-10.
46. Paget E, Monrozier LJ, Simonet P. Adsorption of DNA on clay minerals: protection against DNaseI and influence on gene transfer. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1992;97(1–2):31-9.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1992.tb05435.x
PMID: 1381694
47. Mupparapu M, Vuppalapati A. Detection of an early ossification of thyroid cartilage in an adolescent on a lateral cephalometric radiograph. Angle Orthod. 2002;72(6):576-8.
PMID: 12518951
48. Garvin HM. Ossification of laryngeal structures as indicators of age. J Forensic Sci. 2008;53(5):1023-7.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00793.x
PMID: 18624888
49. Golghate TD, Tambe S V, Meshram MM, Kasote AP, Rahule AS, Thakre BP. Early Ossification of Thyroid Cartilage. J Contemp Med Dent. 2014;2(1):51-3.
50. Yamagami T, Kawano N, Nakano H. Calcification of the cervical ligamentum flavum—case report. Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo). 2000;40(4):234-8.
DOI: 10.2176/nmc.40.234
PMID: 10853325
51. Fotakopoulos G, Alexiou GA, Mihos E, Voulgaris S. Ossification of the ligamentum flavum in cervical and thoracic spine: report of three cases. Acta Neurol Belg. 2010;110(2):186-9.
52. Nikita E. Osteoarchaeology: A guide to the macroscopic study of human skeletal remains. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Academic Press; 2016.
53. Kahn ML, Davidson R, Drummond DS. Acquired torticollis in children. Orthop Rev. 1991;20(8):667-74.
PMID: 1923581
54. Khudaverdyan AY. Cranial deformation and torticollis of an early feudal burial from Byurakn, Armenia. Acta Biol Szeged. 2012;56(2):133-9.
55. Plutarch. Plutarch‘s Lives. The Translation called Dryden’s. Boston: Little Brown and Co; 1906.
56. Gerszten PC, Gerszten E. Intentional cranial deformation: a disappearing form of self-mutilation. Neurosurgery. 1995;37(3):374-81.
DOI: 10.1227/00006123-199509000-00002
PMID: 7501099
57. O’Brien TG, Stanley AM. Boards and Cords: Discriminating Types of Artificial Cranial Deformation in Prehispanic South Central Andean Populations. Int J Osteoarchaeol. 2013;23(4):459-70.
DOI: 10.1002/oa.1269
58. Molnár M, János I, Szűcs L, Szathmáry L. Artificially deformed crania from the Hun-Germanic Period (5th-6th century ad) in northeastern Hungary: historical and morphological analysis. Neurosurg Focus. 2014;36(4):E1.
DOI: 10.3171/2014.1.FOCUS13466
PMID: 24684322
59. Gardner S. A persistent metopic suture: a case report. Evolution (N Y). 2012;109:8467-70.
60. Hakenbeck S. ‘Hunnic’ modified skulls: physical appearance, identity and the transformative nature of migrations. In: Sayer D, Williams H. Mortuary Practices and Social Identities Middle Ages. Exeter: Exeter University Press; 2009. pp. 64-80.
61. Schröter P. Zur beabsichtigten künstlichen Kopfumformung im völkerwanderungszeitlichen Mitteleuropa. In: Dannheimer H, Dopsch H. Die Bajuwaren. Von Severin Bis Tassilo 488-788. Munich: Prähistorische Staatssammlung München und Salzburger Landesregierung; 1988. pp. 258-65.
62. Lux J, Ravnik J. Poskus rekonstrukcije obsega poznoantičnega grobišča Lajh v Kranju = An attempt to reconstruct the size of the Lajh late antiquity cemetery in Kranj. Varstvo spomenikov. 2008(44):43-69.
63. Tratnik V, Karo S, Fabec T, Kramar S, Kavkler K, Dolenec M, et al. Miren, grobišče iz obdobja preseljevanja ljudstev. Ljubljana: Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije; 2017.
64. Leben-Seljak P. A Hun skeleton with intentionally deformed skull from Ptuj. Coll Antropol. 2002. pp. 119-20.
65. Horvat J, Dolenc Vičič A. Arheološka najdišča Ptuja: Rabelčja vas = Archaeological sites of Ptuj. Ljubljana: Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU, Založba ZRC; 2010.
66. Mirnik Prezelj I. Sodobna sociologija o problemih etničnosti, narodov (nacionalizmov) in današnja arheologija. Arheol Vestn. 2002;53(1):385-401.
67. Anderson BR. Zamišljene skupnosti: o izvoru in širjenju nacionalizma. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis; 2007.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The Author transfers to the Publisher (Slovenian Medical Association) all economic copyrights following form Article 22 of the Slovene Copyright and Related Rights Act (ZASP), including the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the rental right, the right of public performance, the right of public transmission, the right of public communication by means of phonograms and videograms, the right of public presentation, the right of broadcasting, the right of rebroadcasting, the right of secondary broadcasting, the right of communication to the public, the right of transformation, the right of audiovisual adaptation and all other rights of the author according to ZASP.
The aforementioned rights are transferred non-exclusively, for an unlimited number of editions, for the term of the statutory
The Author can make use of his work himself or transfer subjective rights to others only after 3 months from date of first publishing in the journal Zdravniški vestnik/Slovenian Medical Journal.
The Publisher (Slovenian Medical Association) has the right to transfer the rights of acquired parties without explicit consent of the Author.
The Author consents that the Article be published under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 (attribution-non-commercial) or comparable licence.
