Intervertebral osteochondrosis in ancient and modern populations

Palaeopathology of human remains from the Roman Imperial Age

The increasing attention of archaeological and anthropological research towards palaeopathological studies has allowed to focus the examination of many skeletal samples on this aspect and to evaluate the presence of many diseases afflicting ancient populations. This paper describes the most interesting diseases observed in skeletal samples from five necropolises found in urban and suburban areas of Rome during archaeological excavations in the last decades, and dating back to the Imperial Age. The diseases observed were grouped into the following categories: articular diseases, traumas, infections, metabolic or nutritional diseases, congenital diseases and tumors, and some examples are reported for each group. Although extensive epidemiological investigation in ancient skeletal records is impossible, palaeopathology allowed highlighting the spread of numerous illnesses, many of which can be related to the life and health conditions of the Roman population.

Brief communication: when Adam delved ... an activity-related lesion in three human skeletal populations

A rare, activity-related lesion, the clay-shoveller's fracture, was identified during osteological analysis in three human populations dating from the Roman to the later Medieval period in England, circa fourth to 14th centuries A.D. The prevalence of this fracture in these populations suggests an osteological indicator for several possible manual activities, but also one that may be the result of a long-standing human subsistence adaptation requiring digging in the soil. Since males as opposed to females appear to be preferentially affected, the occurrence of such injuries has the potential to provide an insight into the sexual division of labor in earlier human populations.