Findings from computed tomography examinations of Viking age skulls.

Abstract

Introduction: Computed tomography (CT) images can provide information about anatomical structures and pathological processes in ancient skulls. A previous study on the teeth and jaws of 171 individuals in a late Swedish Viking age population, dating around the 10^th-12^th century made clinical examinations that included intraoral radiographs. Current explorative study examined a subset of this population using CT with the aim to investigate if this method could provide additional information about the studied subjects.

Materials and method: The skulls of 15 Viking-era individuals were examined with CT. Two specialists in oral and maxillofacial radiology and one general dentist examined the images together, performing the diagnostics and interpretated the results.

Results: Findings included signs of pathological conditions of the teeth; of the alveolar, mandibular, maxillary and auricular bone; and of the paranasal sinuses and temporomandibular joints. These findings indicated the presence of both clinically detectable conditions, such as dental caries, periodontal disease, periapical destructions and remodelling of the caput mandibulae, but also additional findings such as sclerotization of the mastoid process, infection-induced periosteal bone deposition, and signs of sinusitis.

Conclusion: CT investigation of skeletal remains from an early Christian community in the Viking era in Sweden indicated that the population suffered from numerous orofacial pathologies, including dental disease, sinusitis, otitis, and various infections. The current study, using CT as an investigation method of skeletal remains, indicated that this method could identify conditions that might be difficult to find through ocular inspection. Conclusively, CT is suggested to be an important non-invasive method when used in combination with other examination methods, possibly providing additional information about archeological human remains. Further studies on similar samples are suggested to examine this further.