RESUMEN
An investigation of three groups from ancient populations (Neolithic, Early Middle Ages, Middle Ages) was performed on 273 adult skeletons. Despite unequal preservation of the remains, a study of a series of large joints and spinal segments permitted some conclusions: rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and osteoarthrosis of large joints (hip, knee, shoulder) were not found. The main findings were: osteoarthrosis in spinal zygapophyseal joints (particularly at cervical level); intervertebral osteochondrosis (particularly at the cervical and lumbar levels); Schmorl's nodes (particularly at the thoracic and lumbar levels); enthesopathic osteophytes (particularly in the spine, iliac crest, patella, and calcaneus). Such deformities seemed more frequent in the Middle Ages than in the Neolithic period.