Academia

Yet another faschinating post from MOLA; This time on tuberculosis / Pott's disease:

This week, we have been looking at tuberculosis in this woman from 19th-century London, who died in early adulthood, between about 26 and 35 years of age, quite possibly from TB. Pott’s disease in the cervical vertebrae of the neck show that she was suffering from tuberculosis, a common cause of death in this period. Two large cavitations are visible in the anterior body of the fifth cervical vertebra. This has led to collapse and kyphosis (forward bending) of the spine, a condition referred to as Pott’s disease which is pathognomonic of tuberculosis.

The auricular surface of the right ilium, where the pelvis meets the sacrum, is eroded suggesting the presence of septic arthritis, perhaps as a consequence of the tuberculous infection. Note the relatively large and isolated cavity containing dead bone (sequestrum).

Image 1: Location of Pott's disease and septic arthritis

Image 2: Anterior view of the cervical (neck) vertebrae of a young adult woman with TB (arrows indicates large cavitations)

Image 3: Medial view of the right ilium (pelvis) of a young adult woman with TB (arrow indicates sequestrum)

Amputation of lower leg of c14 year old child, 19th-century London

I can truely recomend anyone who is interested in osteoarchaeology to follow Museum of London Archaeology on Facebok. Their Osteology Group often have very fascinating posts on new and interesting finds.Take for instance this recent one from 14 January 2015:

"Evidence of surgical procedures from archaeological sites is rare. This individual, who lived in 19th-century London, died around the age of 14 years. They had lost the majority of their right lower leg, either as a result of accident, violence or surgical removal. The proximal shaft of the lower leg is a favoured location for amputation, so this may well be an example of surgery.

The increased size of the remaining sections of bone, when compared to the unaffected left leg, has been caused by osteomyelitis – infection of the medullary cavity within the bone shafts. The holes represent sinuses from which pus could escape. This infection was longstanding and perhaps resulted from the surgery or from an original infection or injury that necessitated the amputation."

Image 1: Location of amputation

Image 2: Medial view of amputated right tibia and fibula of c14 year old child

Image 3: Posterior view of amputated right tibia and fibula of c14 year old child

Image 4: Anterior view of amputated right tibia and fibula of c14 year old child

Image 5: Anterior view of lower legs of c14 year old child with amputated right tibia and fibula

Image 6: Lateral view of amputated right tibia and fibula of c14 year old child

DISH

Overeating at Christmas can affect your spine. DISH (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis) is a condition which causes ligaments and other soft tissues to ossify (turn to bone). In this case, a mature adult male (>45 years of age) from 19th-century London was found to have a fused spine. This had been caused by ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament which runs along the front of the vertebral bodies. It would no doubt have restricted the range of movement in the individual’s back.

DISH is associated with increasing age and may be linked to diabetes and obesity, often the result of unhealthy and excessive food intake.

Image 1: Location of the portion of fused spine of mature adult male (>45 years of age) from 19th-century London

Image 2: Right lateral view of vertebral column of mature adult male with DISH

Image 3: Anterior view of vertebral column of mature adult male with DISH

This week MOLA osteologists have been studying the feet of a 19th-century Londoner, a woman who died between the ages of 26-35 years. In both feet, the proximal and distal first phalanges (big toes) are not straight but angled laterally towards the other toes (not pictured).

No Money and In Pain, Chinese Man Saws Off Own Leg at Home

A metal saw, a small fruit knife, and a back-scratcher wrapped with a towel. 47-year-old Zheng Yanliang used these three simple tools and sawed off his entire right leg, which was suffering some strange ailment, at home on his bed. He bit off four molars enduring the pain. Today, the same strange ailment spreads pitilessly on his left leg. Zheng Yanliang hopes that kind-hearted people can give help, cure the strange disease that torments him, and provide him with a prosthetic limb so that he can once again support his wife and daughter.

Read the whole story here

An 18th century hand-illustrated page from an Ottoman Turk dental book showing a molar infected with toothworms. As early as Babylonian times and lasting well into the eighteenth century, it was thought that a toothache was caused by worms. (The theory was disproved by Jacob Christian Schaffer in 1757.) These worms were depicted in art as dwelling with the demons of Hell and feeding upon the sinners. In a cavity on one side of the bisected tooth, Lucifer watches as two worms devour and entrap their victims. In the other half of the tooth, demons lord over a collection of human skulls.

Fracture of a single bone trabeculum in osteoporosis (16x).

By Michael J. Klein, M.D., Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: ”UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?” ‘UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: “I am because we are”

Skeletal Creatures Carved From Everyday Objects

What once were doors, rolling pins, coat hangers, and picture frames are now the skeletal remains of vertebrates. Montreal-based artist Maskull Lasserre brings these objects to life- or perhaps death. By carefully carving into the wooden surfaces that we commonly overlook in our everyday environments, Lasserre reveals a deeper world inside. For the month of December until January 19, 2013, his woodworkings were exhibited as a set called Fable in Toronto’s Centre Space gallery. Click on the link to read his philosophical artist statement for Fable and stay tuned after the jump to watch his interview.

According to Lasserre:

“The history of these well worn things holds the potential for surprising outcomes. The jeopardy, animation, delicacy and decay, that has slept in the wood through all its prior use and purpose is revealed through my work. My hope is not to illustrate the details of incidental carved motifs, but to reveal the mystery, and the potential for risk and wonder that waits in the untouched wood.”

The diagnosis and context of a facial deformity from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Spofforth, North Yorkshire

Elizabeth Craig-Atkins (School of Applied SciencesBournemouth University) and Geoff Craig (University of Sheffield)

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (2012)

Abstract An individual aged between 6 and 7 years at death from a 7th to 9th century cemetery at Village Farm, Spofforth, North Yorkshire, presented significant pathological swelling to the left facial bones. The ectocranial surface was bulbous and uneven, and the expanded diploë was densely packed with a mass of thick trabeculae. Radiographic and histological analysis, in combination with the macroscopically observed pathological changes, supported the differential diagnosis of fibrous dysplasia. The skeletal changes to the left face and jaw would have resulted in a significant facial deformity. Examples of individuals with physical impairments or disfigurements from Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are rare.

Nevertheless, it seems that a significant proportion are afforded unusual burial practices more often associated with deviancy, for example, at the edge of cemeteries or on a reversed orientation, seemingly indicating that their diminished physical capabilities or altered physical appearance had a detrimental effect on their social status. The child from Spofforth was, however, buried in a normative manner, extended, supine and in a plain earth-cut grave, with no indication that their facial deformity had prompted unusual funerary provision. This example of facial disfigurement contributes to a growing corpus of potentially disabled individuals from early medieval England.