Reconstruction of anatomy and care provisioning in a severe case of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE: This analysis aims to clinically and socially contextualize a set of human remains (TBK Br8) with severe systemic skeletal dysmorphology from Tashbulak, Uzbekistan (8th-11th c. Common Era [CE]). MATERIALS: One well-preserved and nearly-complete human skeleton. METHODS: Remains were assessed and documented macroscopically. RESULTS: Endochondrally derived skeletal elements in TBK Br8 were observed to be underdeveloped. Extensive proliferation of bone had invaded all but one observable joint, variably occluding most intervertebral foramina, the lumbar vertebral canal, and transverse foramina of the cervical spine. CONCLUSIONS: The remains were diagnosed with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia (SED), possibly the subtype progressive pseudorheumatoid dysplasia (spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda with progressive arthropathy. Rendered functionally paraplegic by the time of death, TBK Br8 likely suffered from widespread areas of numbness, tingling, weakness and/or pain in the lower limbs and thorax, and perhaps transient psychological symptoms. SIGNIFICANCE: The severity of TBK Br8's disease would have had significant implications to their daily interactions in a society with deep roots in nomadic lifeways, and is a testament to the care required to enable survival. LIMITATIONS: Radiology, genetic, and histologic analyses are unavailable. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: Focused genetic testing for mutations previously shown to be associated with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasias.

Urban and nomadic isotopic niches reveal dietary connectivities along Central Asia's Silk Roads.

The ancient 'Silk Roads' formed a vast network of trade and exchange that facilitated the movement of commodities and agricultural products across medieval Central Asia via settled urban communities and mobile pastoralists. Considering food consumption patterns as an expression of socio-economic interaction, we analyse human remains for carbon and nitrogen isotopes in order to establish dietary intake, then model isotopic niches to characterize dietary diversity and infer connectivity among communities of urbanites and nomadic pastoralists. The combination of low isotopic variation visible within urban groups with isotopic distinction between urban communities irrespective of local environmental conditions strongly suggests localized food production systems provided primary subsistence rather than agricultural goods exchanged along trade routes. Nomadic communities, in contrast, experienced higher dietary diversity reflecting engagements with a wide assortment of foodstuffs typical for mobile communities. These data indicate tightly bound social connectivity in urban centres pointedly funnelled local food products and homogenized dietary intake within settled communities, whereas open and opportunistic systems of food production and circulation were possible through more mobile lifeways.