International Journal of Paleopathology最新文献

{"title":"A case of rheumatoid arthritis in a Nubian woman from the site of Sheikh Mohamed, near Aswan, Egypt","authors":"Madeleine Mant ,&nbsp;Mindy C. Pitre ,&nbsp;Sarah Dancer ,&nbsp;Maria Carmela Gatto","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>To differentially diagnose and contextualize pathological lesions suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>The skeletal remains of a 25–30-year-old female dated to c. 1750–1550 BCE from a Nubian Pan-Grave cemetery at the site of Sheik Mohamed, near Aswan, Egypt.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The skeletal remains were examined macroscopically and a differential diagnosis was conducted following established protocols in the palaeopathological literature.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Symmetrical, bilateral, erosive periarticular lesions with smooth edges were observed in multiple joints (especially in the hands and feet).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Differential diagnosis suggests this individual had rheumatoid arthritis.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This case suggests the presence of rheumatoid arthritis in ancient Egypt, contributing to a more finely grained understanding of the antiquity and geographical distribution of the condition.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>It was not possible to radiograph the skeletal remains.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>Researchers are encouraged to re-examine any archaeological examples of erosive polyarthropathy using current palaeopathological protocols and to explore the manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis on the African continent.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 78-84"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000785/pdfft?md5=3eb0ee4d417829d7b8731d5165974a55&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000785-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139089753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guidance for the identification of bony lesions related to smallpox","authors":"Rosie R. Crawford ,&nbsp;Claire M. Hodson ,&nbsp;David Errickson","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This research aimed to address the underrepresentation of smallpox (osteomyelitis variolosa) in palaeopathology, providing a synthesis of published literature and presenting guidance for the identification of osteomyelitis variolosa in non-adult and adult skeletal remains.</p></div><div><h3>Materials and methods</h3><p>Literature regarding smallpox and published reports of individuals with osteomyelitis variolosa were synthesised and critiqued to produce clear diagnostic criteria for the identification of smallpox osteologically.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Associated osteological changes begin in non-adults, where skeletal morphology is rapidly changing. Characteristic lesions associated with non-adult osteomyelitis variolosa include inflammation and destructive remodelling of long-bone joints and metaphyses. Where childhood infection was survived, residual osteomyelitis variolosa lesions should also be visible in adults in the osteoarchaeological record.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Despite long-term clinical recognition, only limited osteological and archaeological evidence of osteomyelitis variolosa has yet emerged. With improved diagnostic criteria, osteomyelitis variolosa may be more frequently identified.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This is the first synthesis of osteomyelitis variolosa encompassing both clinical and palaeopathological literature, providing detailed guidance for the identification of osteomyelitis variolosa in skeletal remains. It will lead to the increased identification of smallpox osteologically.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Differential diagnoses should always be considered. The archaeological longevity of smallpox, and the potential for archaeological VARV to cause clinically recognised smallpox, is currently unknown. Characteristic bone changes in the archaeological record may be other, extinct human-infecting-orthopoxviruses.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>Further consideration of the implications of age of smallpox contraction on bony pathology: whether epiphyses are affected differently due to state of fusion. Reassessment of individuals previously identified with smallpox-consistent lesions, but otherwise diagnosed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 65-77"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000773/pdfft?md5=bbea4a8c336455083a70b851b2329dd4&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000773-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139076441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chronic maxillary sinusitis in palaeopathology: A review of methods","authors":"Matthew James Lee ,&nbsp;Thomas J. Siek ,&nbsp;Cara Stella Hirst","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study reviews the palaeopathological literature discussing maxillary sinusitis to examine current trends and issues within the study of this condition, and to make recommendations for future research in this area.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>Seventy-five studies were identified through a literature search of digital and physical sources.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Information regarding study metadata, the populations investigated, sinusitis diagnostic criteria, and sinusitis prevalence was examined.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Populations from the UK and Europe were the most studied, reflecting both palaeopathology’s systemic colonialism and academic legacies. Most studies used diagnostic criteria published in the mid‐1990s, with some subsequent studies modifying these criteria.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>The diagnostic criteria from 1995 are widely used but do not include all possible bone changes seen within sinusitis. There is also a need for researchers to engage in issues of data reductionism when using descriptive categories for archaeological sites and populations.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This paper provides considerations as to how the 1995 diagnostic criteria may be revised by future researchers and synthesises much of the published sinusitis prevalence data to assist researchers interested in the palaeopathology of respiratory disease.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>More general osteological research, which includes palaeopathological information, was likely missed from this review due to the choice of key terms and languages used in the literature search.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for Further Research</h3><p>Additional research into sinusitis in archaeological populations outside of Western Europe is required. Further work examining the ability to compare pathological data from macroscopic observation and medical imaging would be advantageous to palaeopathology as a whole.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 51-64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000748/pdfft?md5=6ba9b205198cd81e79fff5eb30fb62cb&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000748-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139041141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A probable case of \"lumpy jaw\" in early medieval (11th – 12th c.) cattle from a stronghold in Kruszwica, Poland","authors":"Maciej Janeczek ,&nbsp;Daniel Makowiecki ,&nbsp;Edyta Pasicka ,&nbsp;Aleksandra Rozwadowska ,&nbsp;Rafał Ciaputa","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>The purpose of this article is to try to determine the probable cause of the disease from which the study animal suffered.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>The skeletal material included a caudal fragment of a cattle mandible. The specimen, exhibiting chronic disease was separated from approximately 10,000 early medieval cattle remains discovered during excavations of the former Kruszwica stronghold.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The bone was underwent macroscopic, radiological and histopathological examination.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Location, macroscopic, microscopic and X-ray images of the lesions within the examined mandible indicate it could have been caused by the actinomycosis.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>In the face of infection, no effective therapies were undertaken in the Middle Ages.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>Descriptions of lumpy jaw in the paleopathological literature are rare. This disease, due to its background and course, eliminated animals from breeding for centuries until the era of antibiotics. The case described in our paper is in an advanced stage, but its adult age suggests that efforts were possibly made to keep the cow alive as long as possible, indicating the significant economic importance of the animal.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>This analysis is limited by the absence of other anatomical elements of the affected animal, which impacts the interpretation of the palaeopathological bone.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>It is recommended that similar studies are conducted on better preserved and more numerous cattle assemblages.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 46-50"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187998172300075X/pdfft?md5=29590cc6d4e1f9dbbe7871efdcc32534&pid=1-s2.0-S187998172300075X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138838485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ageing and disease risk factors: A new paleoepidemiological methodology for understanding disease in the past","authors":"Jo Appleby","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><p>To outline a methodology that enables the reconstruction of age-related disease risk in past societies.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>Modern epidemiological evidence considering risk factors for age-related disease is combined with contextual information about an archaeological society of interest.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Data gathered is used to create a qualitative population-specific risk model for the disease of interest. To provide a case study, a risk model is constructed for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in the Eastern English Bronze Age.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>This enables the first rigorous approach to reconstructing age-related disease risk in the past. A risk model shows a high degree of COPD risk in the Eastern English Bronze Age, with a major contribution from indoor airborne pollution and agricultural practices.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This represents a significant new approach in human paleopathology, facilitating understanding of the occurrence of a wide variety of diseases in the past, without the need for well-preserved skeletons of identified elderly individuals.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>The risk models generated are, of necessity, qualitative rather than quantitative, since we are unable to calculate the size of risk factors in the past with certainty.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>The methodology could be applied to a wide variety of diseases and for many past societies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 33-45"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000736/pdfft?md5=09b247a4e02d8c623ef30e422a6cb7df&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000736-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138838484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eimeria leuckarti in equid coprolites from the Sassanid Era (2nd–6th century CE) excavated in Chehrabad Salt Mine archaeological site, Iran","authors":"Zeynab Askari ,&nbsp;Alireza Sazmand ,&nbsp;Gholamreza Mowlavi ,&nbsp;Frank Rüehli ,&nbsp;Saied Reza Naddaf ,&nbsp;Mostafa Rezaeian ,&nbsp;Thomas Stöllner ,&nbsp;Abolfazl Aali ,&nbsp;Niloofar Paknezhad ,&nbsp;Domenico Otranto","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study reports coccidian oocysts in an equid coprolite dated to the Sassanid Empire (2nd–6th century CE) recovered in Chehrabad Salt Mine archaeological site, Iran.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Between 2015 and 2017, an archaeoparasitological investigation led to the discovery of an equid coprolite in the Chehrabad Salt Mine archeological site, (Douzlakh), western Iran. Samples were rehydrated using trisodium phosphate solution and were examined by light microscopy.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Seven oocysts of <em>Eimeria leuckarti</em> (Flesch, 1883) were identified; they were in various stages of sporulation.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>This is the first report of ancient coccidian oocysts from equids. The importance of this observation is discussed, and current knowledge of eimeriid oocysts at archaeological sites is reviewed.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>The observations of <em>E. leuckarti</em> increases current knowledge of parasite biodiversity in ancient Iran when it rested along the Silk Road, a network of trade routes connecting the East and West that was central to economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between these regions, and to livestock movement that could contribute to the transmission of the parasites from/to other regions.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>The contextual information about animal species present in and around the Salt Mine during its working periods, including Achaemenid dynasty (6th to 4th century BCE) and Sassanid era (2nd to 6th century CE), is very limited and does not allow secure conclusions regarding the host origin of the coprolites.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for Further Research</h3><p>Application of molecular biology tools to identify the correct host origin of the coprolites and to detect more parasite species is advocated.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 27-32"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000724/pdfft?md5=41e76480bdd97ea6946b207cdfa06cf6&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000724-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138474825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating the association between intestinal parasite infection and cribra orbitalia in the medieval population of Cambridge, UK","authors":"Tianyi Wang ,&nbsp;Jenna M. Dittmar ,&nbsp;Sarah A. Inskip ,&nbsp;Craig Cessford ,&nbsp;Piers D. Mitchell","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>Cribra orbitalia is believed to be a skeletal indicator of chronic anaemia, scurvy, rickets or related metabolic diseases. It has been suggested that it may be used as a proxy indicator for intestinal parasite infection, as parasites often cause anaemia today. Our aim is to investigate this association in the medieval population of Cambridge, UK.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>Individuals excavated from the cemeteries of the Augustinian friary and All Saints by the Castle parish church, and aged from 7 to adulthood.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We undertook parasite analysis of the pelvic sediment and control samples of 46 burials with intact orbital roofs.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Human roundworm (<em>Ascaris lumbricoides</em>) and/or whipworm (<em>Trichuris trichiura</em>) were identified in the pelvic sediment of 22 individuals, and cribra orbitalia noted in 11 individuals. Barnards test showed no association between parasite infection and cribra orbitalia (p = .882).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>We found no association between infection and cribra orbitalia infection in this medieval adult population, calling into question this hypothesis, at least for adults.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>High or low cribra orbitalia prevalence in adults should not be used to infer rates of intestinal parasite infection.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>The individuals in the study were over the age of 7, with no younger children. It is possible that only parasites which cause marked anaemia (such as hookworm, schistosomiasis or malaria) may cause cribra orbitalia, while less marked anaemia from roundworm and whipworm may not do so.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for Further Research</h3><p>Repeating this study in younger children, when most cribra orbitalia appears to form.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 20-26"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000712/pdfft?md5=c254ce05228664ad02e7e6f3ad305241&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000712-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138467941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dental diseases and dental wear as a proxy for dietary patterns in Hellenistic-early Roman Menainon, Sicily","authors":"Antonio Caruso ,&nbsp;Efthymia Nikita","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This paper explores dental diseases and wear as a proxy for dietary patterns in Hellenistic-early Roman Menainon.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>This study includes 166 individuals (4th-1st c. BCE).</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Carious lesions, dental calculus, antemortem tooth loss, and dental wear were recorded to explore male-female and adult-juvenile differences, and to position Menainon in the broader Hellenistic/early Roman world through comparisons with published data from other sites.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Males and females showed similar rates of dental diseases. Dental wear, in contrast, was systematically greater in males. Caries rates were high in both adults and juveniles, but adults showed more calculus. The population from Menainon had higher frequencies for calculus and carious lesions compared to contemporary Italian and Greek assemblages, and a similar frequency for antemortem tooth loss.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Some sex-related differences in the dietary patterns of the Menainon population were visible but small. The diet of adults and juveniles must have been similar in terms of carbohydrate consumption but different with regard to protein consumption. The high frequency of carious lesions and calculus compared to other Greco-Roman sites suggests that this population must have had good access to dietary resources (protein and carbohydrates).</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This paper provides insights on gender (sex-related) and age divisions in the Hellenistic/early Roman society through the exploration of food consumption in a Sicilian assemblage.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Dividing the assemblage by sex and age group reduced considerably the sample size.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>Stable isotopes and dental microwear analyses should be used to investigate dietary patterns further.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 10-19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981723000700/pdfft?md5=03eff5b3d1559c97dc41df9f72f6b5ce&pid=1-s2.0-S1879981723000700-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138467937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Activity reconstruction of Rangifer tarandus feet in Fennoscandian -archaeology: Methodological considerations and application to archaeological material from two Sámi habitation sites","authors":"Emily Hull ,&nbsp;Anna-Kaisa Salmi ,&nbsp;Mitchell Semeniuk","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study explores the presence and prevalence of working <em>Rangifer tarandus tarandus</em> (domestic reindeer) through entheseal changes present in <em>Rangifer tarandus</em> phalanges at the Sámi habitation sites of Juikenttä and Nukkumajoki, located in Finland and dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>Modern samples (n = 23 phalanges, <em>Rangifer tarandus fennicus</em>; n = 60 phalanges, <em>Rangifer tarandus tarandus</em> non-working; n = 72 phalanges, <em>Rangifer tarandus tarandus</em> working) with known life histories. Archaeological samples (n = 22 phalanges, Juikenttä; n = 118 phalanges, Nukkumajoki).</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We analysed entheseal changes on the first and second phalanges of both the thoracic and pelvic limbs. The minute movements of reindeer feet create entheseal changes which are specific to different activity patterns. This analysis was compared to the results obtained from long-bone analysis.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Our results show the presence of working reindeer at both sites and are consistent with previous analysis of the long bones found at the site.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This archaeological application of phalangeal entheseal changes suggests that reindeer phalanges may be used to assess both the presence and proportion of working animals in an assemblage.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This study provides more evidence for the use of working reindeer as early as the 14th century in Northern Finland. This work also helps to provide archaeological evidence for Sámi subsistence patterns, as well as proving new tools for zooarchaeological assessment.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Small sample size and taphonomy may affect assessment. Additionally, entheseal changes take time to envelope and may under-represent the number of working reindeer.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>Assessment of additional modern and archaeological samples.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"44 ","pages":"Pages 1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187998172300058X/pdfft?md5=ec3b0ef184de0e775980653335971127&pid=1-s2.0-S187998172300058X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136400828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is the promontory a promising site to diagnose otitis media in paleopathology? A search for evidence","authors":"Stefan Flohr ,&nbsp;Uwe Kierdorf ,&nbsp;Horst Kierdorf ,&nbsp;Albert Mudry","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>The promontory of the middle ear was recently suggested to be an appropriate site for diagnosing otitis media (OM) in archaeological bones by endoscopic inspection. The present study scrutinized the underlying assumption that a bulgy, irregular promontorial surface represents a pathological condition.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>We compared an allegedly healthy individual and an allegedly diseased individual in skeletal remains of two human individuals from the early Medieval period in Germany.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>The specimens were studied using microscopic analyses of thin ground sections.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>The osseous architecture of the three-layered promontorial wall was the same in both specimens. Both the contour of the resorption front of the middle layer and the thickness of the overlying outer periosteal layer showed some variation, resulting in an either smooth or a bulgy promontorial surface, while signs of resorptive or proliferative changes at the periosteal surface were missing in both cases.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Our results suggest that an irregular promontorial surface represents normal variation in the development of the otic capsule rather than a pathological condition. We therefore conclude that the promontory is not an appropriate site for diagnosing OM in archaeological bone.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>The study contributes to evidence-based diagnoses in paleo-otological studies. Our assumption is in line with clinical and experimental findings indicating that the otic capsule is protected against bone remodeling.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Only two specimens were studied.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>SEM-studies to detect more subtle changes to the promontorial surface.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"43 ","pages":"Pages 106-111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71430525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}