Skeletal metastatic carcinoma: A case from 15th–20th century Coimbra,Portugal

This paper discusses the differential diagnosis of unusual and distinct pathological changes in the skeletal remains of a 40+‐year‐old female from 15th–20th century Coimbra (Portugal). The most affected area seems to have been the skull, but multiple lesions, lytic and/or blastic, have been found throughout the post‐cranial skeleton, more specifically in the scapulae, clavicles, humerus, sternum, ribs, sacrum, innominates and femurs. The differential diagnosis of the lesions gave rise to several possible pathological conditions, namely, Langerhans cell histiocytosis (granulomatosis or Histiocytosis X), multiple myeloma and metastatic carcinoma. Various macroscopic and radiological aspects lead us to consider metastatic carcinoma as the most probable diagnosis. Despite the argumentative identity of the possible primary lesion, age, sex and the mixed nature of the osseous response are consistent with cancer of the breast but do not exclude other carcinomas, namely lung cancer. With temporal and regional differences emerging in the frequency of malignant tumours, the identification of new cases becomes important, particularly from geographic areas where few cases have been reported. In fact, the present report adds to the only case of metastatic carcinoma detected in non‐identified Portuguese human skeletal remains until now. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A palaeopathological case of a right maxilla's cemento‐ossifying fibroma

Cemento‐ossifying fibromas (COFs) are rare benign tumours affecting the maxilla and the mandible. The COF, of nonodontogenic origin, consists of a heterogeneous mixture of bone tissues and cementum. The skeleton of burial 154 excavated from the site of Magnicourt‐ en‐Comté (Pas‐de‐Calais) has been studied palaeopathologically. The cemetery is dated from the Merovingian period (6^th–7th century AD) and included 262 burials. In this study, we focus on the differential diagnosis of cemento‐ossifying fibroma and other dyplastic and cystic lesions. Various macroscopic, radiological and histological aspects enable us to make a positive diagnosis of COF. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Secondary cancer in an Anglo-Saxon female

A mature/elderly female skeleton from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Eccles, Kent, is described. A diagnosis of Paget's disease of the left tibia is made. The macroscopic radiological features of perforating and non-perforating osteolytic lesions in the cranium and femora are described. The differential diagnosis is discussed. The lesions are considered to be due to metastatic carcinoma, possibly from a primary carcinoma of the breast. There is a brief resumé of other recorded examples of metastatic carcinoma in early skeletons.     

山东莱州市朱郎埠墓群发掘报告

朱郎埠墓群位于山东省莱州市大原镇东朱果村东北约1.5千米处.1999年10月至11月,为配合大莱龙铁路建设,烟台市博物馆对此墓群进行了抢救性的发掘,共发现战国、汉代墓葬35座,墓葬形制各异.随葬品主要是陶器,还有少量的铜镜、铜剑、铜印章等.为研究胶东半岛这一时期历史提供了新的资料.     

Sclerosing Bone Dysplasia from 16th Century Sardinia (Italy): A Possible Case of Camurati–Engelmann Disease

The skeletal remains of a male aged 45–55 years displaying several bone anomalies were unearthed from the Alghero (Sardinia) plague cemetery ‘lo Quarter’, a burial site dating back to the 1582–1583 AD outbreak. The skeleton, whose stature is about 165 cm, presents a bilateral hyperostosis with increased diameter of the diaphyses of all the long bones of the upper and lower limbs; the metaphyses appear to be involved, while the epiphyses are spared. Marked thickening of the cranial vault is also evident. Radiological study showed irregular cortical thickening and massive endoperiosteal bone apposition; sclerotic changes are observed in the diaphysis of some metacarpals. Computed tomography (CT) cross sections of the long bones displayed a thickening of the cortical portion and endoperiosteal bone apposition. The individual was affected by a sclerosing bone dysplasia, a genetic disease characterized by increased bone density. In differential diagnosis, several sclerosing bone dysplasia, such as hyperostosis corticalis generalisata, craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, craniometadiaphyseal dysplasia, pachydermoperiostosis and Camurati–Engelmann disease, as well as other disorders characterized by sclerosing manifestations, such as Erdheim–Chester disease, mehloreostosis and skeletal fluorosis, need to be considered. The anomalies observed in skeleton 2179 fit with the features of Camurati–Engelmann disease, which is the most likely candidate for final diagnosis. It is highly challenging to evaluate how such a condition may have influenced the individual's lifestyle in terms of development, mobility and quality of life. This individual was probably symptomatic and must have experienced common clinical symptoms, such as pain in the limbs and fatigability. However, the strong development of the muscular insertions and the degenerative changes in the upper limbs suggest that the mobility problems should not have prevented him from reaching a mature age and from performing essential daily activities. The presented case is the unique paleopathological evidence of Camurati–Engelmann disease so far diagnosed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Case of Early Childhood Caries from Late Roman Ancaster,England

This paper presents a differential diagnosis of pathological changes observed in the deciduous dentition of a child aged 3–4 years, recovered from a Late Roman (c. ad 270–410) cemetery at Ancaster, England. The entire maxillary dentition exhibited areas of missing enamel and erosion of the underlying dentine, which was most pronounced at the lingual surfaces of the anterior teeth, and lingual and occlusal surfaces of the molars. Additionally, the mandibular second molars and mandibular right first molar displayed superficial enamel erosion of the buccal surfaces. Radiography indicated normal enamel density, and no further dental pathology was identified. Conditions considered in a differential diagnosis included amelogenesis imperfecta, fluorosis, perimolysis, xerostomia‐related caries and early childhood caries (ECC). The nature and distribution of lesions implicates ECC – also known as ‘nursing caries’ or ‘baby‐bottle caries’ – as the most probable diagnosis. The potential significance of the findings for studies of infant health and feeding practices in past populations is discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre-Columbian treponematosis in medieval Britain

There has been much debate regarding the origins of treponemal disease and, in particular, acquired syphilis. Greater numbers of skeletons with apparently diagnostic bone lesions in the New World than in the Old have given rise to the postulate, particularly advanced by American workers, that the disease originated there prior to AD 1492 and was carried back to the Old World by Columbus's sailors. This paper presents evidence for the presence of treponemal disease in medieval Norwich prior to AD 1492, however. The dating of the site is good and the skeleton concerned comes from a well-sealed context. Others in the group have similar lesions and there are four individuals with evidence of leprosy. All were buried in a communal cemetery. The individual has widespread, bilateral, florid periostitis, especially of the tibiae and fibulae, and the radiographic changes support the diagnosis of treponemal disease. Differential diagnosis and geographical situation suggest that this skeleton displays evidence of syphillis.     

A Probable Case of Acute Childhood Leukemia: Skeletal Involvement,Differential Diagnosis,and the Bioarchaeology of Cancer in South America

Cancer involves a complex spectrum of disease conditions. However, cancer has received relatively limited attention in paleopathology and bioarchaeology as it is infrequently encountered in the skeletal record, and its differential diagnosis in dry bone remains challenging. Of all neoplastic disorders, one of the most infrequently described forms in ancient skeletons is leukemia, or the myeloproliferative neoplasms of the reticuloendothelial system affecting bone marrow and blood. This case study describes and interprets a suite of lytic and proliferative lesions in the skeletal remains of an Early/Middle Colonial‐era child (ca. A.D. 1533–1620) excavated at the ruins of Eten, southwestern Lambayeque Valley Complex (north coast of Peru). A secondary burial contained the incomplete postcranial remains of a 5–6 year‐old child whose bones were characterized by abnormal porous loci in the right clavicle, scapulae, long bones of the upper limb, ribs, and thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Additionally, fine areas of new bone formation were present on the clavicle and ribs. Multiple pathological conditions were evaluated in a differential diagnosis, including taphonomic changes and various bone resorbing and forming disorders. The lesions are most consistent with acute childhood leukemia and represent the first of its kind described in Andean South America. The identification of this condition helps focus research questions involving the bioarchaeology of cancer in the Andes, especially regarding the significance of neoplastic disorders in relation to the broader reconstruction of past human health in Peru. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metastatic carcinoma: palaeopathology and differential diagnosis

A 62 year‐old contemporary white female diagnosed with metastatic carcinoma of the breast was examined after skeletonisation. She never received chemical, hormonal or radiation therapy. Because of the confirmed clinical diagnosis, lack of medicinal intervention, and quality of bone preservation, this specimen provides a comparative standard for metastatic carcinoma and differential diagnosis of idiopathic dry bone pathology. We detail gross and radiographic bone response to this disease and differentially diagnose the skeleton against Langerhans cell histiocytosis and multiple myeloma, conditions capable of modifying bone in characteristic patterns that may mimic metastatic carcinoma. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are Teeth Better? Histological Characterization of Diagenesis in Archaeological Bone–Tooth Pairs and a Discussion of the Consequences for Archaeometric Sample Selection and Analyses

Teeth are often the preferred source material for isotopic and genetic assay involving ancient biomolecules. The assumption is that dental tissue preserves better due to its anatomically protected location, the enamel cap, and lower porosity compared to bone. However, this assumption has not been widely tested. Some similarities in diagenetic processes are to be expected due to similarities in structure and chemical composition of dentine and bone. This has led to the suggestion that bone can be used as an indicator of dental preservation, as a pre‐screening technique in the selection of suitable samples for biomolecular studies. Thus, direct testing of the correlation between bone and tooth preservation and diagenesis is needed. This paper reports the results of the histological characterization of diagenetic alterations within 25 human femur–tooth pairs, from a Medieval to modern (AD 1850) cemetery in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The results showed that teeth do indeed preserve better overall, but not always, and that this was dependent on the main diagenetic factor(s) at the burial location. Furthermore, good correlations are found between the microstructural preservation of bone and teeth; similar processes of decay were observed within bone and teeth of the same individual. Overall, the study demonstrated that histological analysis of bone is useful for the identification of degradation processes that affect biomolecular preservation in skeletal material. In this way, sample selection and analytical strategies can be optimized. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Case of Pituitary Gigantism and Acromegaly in Anatolia (Tasmasor,Erzurum, Turkey)

In 2003, a tall skeleton belonging to a young adult individual was recovered from a post‐medieval cemetery situated north‐east of the modern city of Erzurum, Turkey. The sex of the individual was not possible to determine. The predicted stature values range from 182 to 200 cm with the average 188.94 cm. The growth was proportional on almost all bones, except for the cranial and facial bones. The selected metric data were compared with the mean values of the male individuals from the same cemetery for differential diagnosis. The individual exhibits characteristics of both pituitary gigantism and acromegaly due to the tumour formation developed in the intrasellar area. Pathological features such as severe osteoarthritis, enthesis and new bone formation around and on the joint surface of the post‐cranial bones, kyphoscoliosis and ankylosis are in agreement with these diagnoses as well. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Considering Multiscalar Approaches to Creolization Among Enslaved Laborers at Estate Bethlehem, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

Archaeological studies of plantations need to consider the scale of the historical circumstances which shape locally circumscribed Creole processes. These circumstances range from broad generalizations down to factors operating only at the local level of the individual estate. Recent excavations at Estate Lower Bethlehem, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, have recovered an artifact assemblage from a laborer village dating from the mid-eighteenth century to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, which was situated adjacent to a previously unrecorded cemetery and a large tamarind tree. This assemblage illustrates the importance of a multiscalar approach to Creolization in two ways: an analysis of the distribution of vessel forms of European pottery and “Afro-Cruzan” earthenwares; and the identification of fragments of lead-glazed slip-decorated redware pottery produced by Moravians.     

内蒙古南宝力皋吐鲜卑墓地发掘简报

2006年,内蒙古通辽市在国道304线改扩建工程配套专线施工时,在南宝力皋吐村发现一处鲜卑墓地。2007年,内蒙古文物考古研究所对该墓地进行了抢救发掘。发掘面积1000平方米,清理同时期鲜卑墓葬34座。出土少量陶器。根据发掘情况分析,认为该墓地经过迁葬。     

Possible cases of leprosy and tuberculosis in medieval Sigtuna,Sweden

In Sigtuna, Sweden, a medieval cemetery, including 227 skeletons, was analysed in 2006. On the outskirts of the churchyard, six skeletons with bone changes indicating systemic inflammatory disease were observed. Two out of three individuals with well‐preserved facial bone regions displayed signs of rhinomaxillary remodelling. Four of the afflicted exhibit severe bilateral alterations of the lower legs and phalanges of the feet and concentric atrophy of the metatarsals. In addition, one of the individuals exhibited a kyphosis in the lumbar vertebrae. In a discussion about alternative diagnoses, lepromatous leprosy and tuberculosis were identified as the causes of the destructive lesions in two individuals. Though the skeletal changes of the lower legs and feet in four cases demonstrate a close resemblance to secondary lesions of leprosy, the disease could not be confirmed. The skeletal changes of the last individual were unspecific and the possible causes several, rendering diagnosis difficult. The burial locations imply that the afflicted persons belonged to a lower social stratum. Due to the significantly higher frequency of pathological changes in the cemetery compared to other cemeteries in the town, the individuals could be regarded as fellow sufferers among others with various medical conditions. The bioarchaeological identification of systemic infectious diseases of a group of individuals of this size is unique to north of Scania in Sweden, where only a few cases of leprosy and tuberculosis have previously been diagnosed. The significance of the present study is emphasised by the interconnection between the afflicted, the archaeological context and the knowledge of the medieval society in Sigtuna. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

江苏镇江大港龙泉村西汉墓地发掘简报

2012年,镇江博物馆在镇江市大港镇龙泉村清理汉代土坑竖穴墓10座,出土器物类型以罐、盒、鼎、壶、瓿为主。从墓葬形制和随葬器物推测,墓葬时代应属于西汉中期。从墓葬的分布规律推测,该墓地应为一处家族墓地,家族内部又分为不同的家庭单位,墓葬之间的区别可能与墓主生活时代和社会地位的不同有关。这批墓葬的科学发掘,为研究镇江地区汉代丧葬制度提供了丰富的实物资料。     

Terminal Late Woodland Mortuary Ceremonialism,Social Differentiation,and Long Distance Interaction in Northern Ohio: New Evidence from the Danbury Site

Abstract

The period from A.D. 800 to 1200 was a time of marked cultural transitions across the Midwest which featured the Mississippian emergence in the west and development of sedentary, tribal societies to the north and east. Recent salvage excavations at the Danbury site, a terminal Late Woodland habitation and cemetery in northwestern Ohio, document the intensified exploitation and storage of aquatic faunal resources and maize and the creation of a large corporate cemetery. Whelk shell ornaments accompanying certain burials point to long-distance interaction with southeastern societies as well as new forms of social differentiation. Preserved fibers of cotton (Gossypium spp.) in the dental calculus of several important individuals reveal previously unrecognized social or economic linkages with societies as distant as the Southwest or northern Mexico. The combined evidence for subsistence intensification, specialized mortuary treatments, and long-distance material exchange at Danbury represent unique local responses to pan-regional socio-cultural transformations.     

Multicentric osteosarcoma associated with DISH,in a 19th century burial from England

Osteosarcoma is a rare type of malignant neoplasm that is most frequent in adolescents and young adults although it can develop at any age. It can metastasize from a primary site in bone to other bones and soft tissues. Usually the disorder causes a single bone‐forming lesion (unicentric) but some cases have multicentric, bone‐forming lesions. Some of these lesions develop at different sites at different times. In a second variant of multicentric osteosarcoma, synchronous bone‐forming lesions develop at multiple sites. Distinguishing between these two types of multicentric osteosarcoma is challenging in a clinical context and the criteria for doing so are unlikely to be met in an archaeological burial. Wolverhampton burial HB 39 was excavated from an early‐nineteenth century cemetery site in England. It consists of the incomplete skeleton of an adult male of at least 45 years of age with multicentric osteosarcoma. The individual represented by this burial also had diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). Three of the bone‐forming lesions associated with osteosarcoma developed on the bony outgrowths related to DISH. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The modern cemetery: a design for life

In discussing the importance of public health anxieties within the birth of modern forms of governmentality, Foucault frequently mentions, but does not develop, the questions that arose about the appropriate disposal of the dead. In this paper, I explore the spatial rationalities of the modern cemetery in England in the mid-nineteenth century. As an illustrative example, I provide a detailed analysis of John Claudius Loudon's proposals for cemeteries. Loudon, a horticultural writer and designer who campaigned vigorously for cemetery reform, became crucial in the reconfiguration of the cemetery. I use Loudon's ideas as a dispositif, a material space that also provides a method of analysis for illuminating the operation of various inter-related governmental spatialisations and techniques. Specifically, I illustrate how the cemetery captures the diversification and widening of dispositional techniques of institutions and, at the same time, integrates hygienic imperatives, aesthetic-moral registers and an array of educational-civic functions. I argue that the cemetery, in real and ideal terms, manifests and intensifies a variety of rural and urban spaces and, paradoxically, generates a model milieu for the living.     

Benign mandibular tumours: Two case studies from the Maya lowland site of Tikal,Guatemala

This study presents a differential diagnosis of benign mandibular tumours identified in two adult burials from the precontact Maya city of Tikal, Guatemala. Both individuals were recovered from domestic structures that date to the Late Classic Period (AD 550–850). The osseous growths were interpreted as probable benign tumours based on evidence of localised growth, a circumscribed border, a dense texture and a lack of osteolytic activity or spiculate bone formation. Burial PTP‐026A is a middle adult (35–50 years) of indeterminate sex with evidence of a small dense, circular mass extending laterally from the right mandibular corpus. Macroscopic and radiographic assessment of this lesion provided a diagnosis of osteoma, a true neoplasm, or alternately, hyperplasia (e.g. exostosis) or hamartoma, which are not true neoplasms. Burial PTP‐017 is a probable young adult female (20–35 years) with a large osteoblastic lesion on the right anterior mandibular corpus. This dense, bony mass extends from the anterior margin of the mental canal, and shows a distinct boundary from the adjacent trabecular and cortical bone. The growth of the osseous mass displaced the right first premolar anteriorly. Radiographic assessment showed the presence of dense, radiopaque material, indicating significant calcification. This suggested a likely fibro‐osseous origin for this lesion, with a probable diagnosis of ossifying fibroma, or possibly osseous dysplasia. Although not definitive, our differential diagnosis was able to exclude a number of neoplastic and non‐neoplastic conditions that affect the jaws. This study provides the first reported cases of possible benign mandibular tumours in the ancient Maya. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.