New evidence for the antiquity of leprosy in early Britain

Examination of skeletons excavated in Dorset has probably produced the earliest example of leprosy known in northern Europe. The site, Poundbury Camp, Dorchester, was excavated under the direction of C. J. S. Green for the Dorchester Excavation Committee from 1966 to 1973. It is a Romano-British cemetery, apparently Christian, and the leprous bones are dated by their archaeological context to the middle of the fourth century AD.The specimen consists of the distal portions of right and left tibiae and fibulae, and the right and left feet. The right intermediate cuneiform is missing, but this may be a post-mortem loss. All parts of the skeleton above the mid-shaft of the tibiae and fibulae have been lost due to modern disturbance. It is therefore impossible to estimate the sex of the individual or its age, but the bones are certainly those of a mature adult.The following pathological changes were noted.