A historical case of an ameloblastoma, from southern Italy.

Jawbones are susceptible to various tumours, some of which originate from dental structures. Here we describe a case of a tumour in a mandible of an old man that was discovered during an archaeological excavation in southern Italy (Torrecuso; 17th-19th centuries). The right mandibular branch presents an extended, multilocular lesion. X-ray analysis shows erosion of the cortical bone layers and the thin trabeculae that circumscribe the lobular areas. Macroscopic and radiological aspects of the mandibular lesion are consistent with an ameloblastoma. This diagnosis is supported by comparative morphological and radiological analyses of the sample from Torrecuso with modern cases. This is a common tumour type reported in the medical literature, which is characterised by a multilocular lesion usually at the branch of the mandible. However, cases of ameloblastoma are not common in archaeological and anthropological reviews. Cases of amleoblastoma were described for two adult female individuals discovered in South America (550-850 CE) and an adult male discovered in Spain (5th-11th centuries CE). The most ancient case comes from the Samnitic archaeological site of Opi (central Italy; 6th-5th centuries BCE). The present case is the second one diagnosed in ancient human remains from Italian archaeological contexts.

A giant urinary bladder stone in the mummy of Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Joseph Tyan (1760-1820) and its environmental and nutritional implications.

INTRODUCTION: Historical sources and anthropological investigations, with the indispensable support of radiology, bring to light pathological evidence of the past. CASE PRESENTATION: The purpose of this article is to present the radiological investigation conducted on the mummy of the Maronite Joseph Tyan (1760-1820), a famous patriarch who guided the Lebanese Maronite community during a critical period of its history. The natural mummy of the Patriarch was temporarily removed from its burial site to certify the degree of preservation. Conventional radiography was necessary to determine the state of the internal organs and any physical abnormalities, and to clarify the degree of conservation of the mummy. DISCUSSION: Radiological analysis uncovered an exceptional case of a large urinary bladder stone. This pathological evidence confirms historical documentary sources that in the last years of his life the Patriarch suffered from abdominal pain and urinary problems. We can suppose that the environment and diet of the Maronite community, limited by restricted agricultural resources, was the possible cause of the urinary bladder stone, as today the epidemiology of these diseases demonstrates links with mainly cereal diets in rural areas.

Estimation of sex from the hyoid body in skeletal individuals from archeological sites.

Recent forensic studies have shown that the hyoid bone is a sexually dimorphic element of the human skeleton. Given the advanced techniques of collecting human remains in archeological and forensic contexts, the recovery of hyoid bones is now more frequent in skeletal samples. For that reason the authors propose a new method for estimating sex based on hyoid bodies from archeological sites. The study has been conducted on well-preserved hyoids of skeletal remains of 64 adult individuals (44 males and 20 females) dated from the pre-Roman to the medieval periods. The authors considered 10 linear measurements of the hyoid body. The most significant measurements showing sexual dimorphism are the body height, body length, and the maximum and minimum diameter of the articular facet for the greater horn. Discriminant function analysis achieved the allocation accuracy between 75.0% and 88.0%, depending on the measurement collected. This method represents a new, useful and easy way for increasing biological information when assessing the sex of adult human remains from an archeological sample.

The possible correlation between dental enamel hypoplasia and a historic natural disaster in the Roman population of Herculaneum (79 AD - central Italy).

Dental enamel hypoplasia is usually read as a sign of a systematic growth disturbance during childhood. Following the analysis of human teeth from Herculaneum (79 AD, Central Italy), the authors focused on linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) manifestations in order to delineate a possible correlation between their frequency and distribution and the earthquake that occurred in 62 AD, which is well documented in historical literature. The human remains from Herculaneum were buried at the same time as the Vesuvius eruption and represent an exceptional snapshot of life in the Roman Imperial Age. The Goodman and Rose method (1990) was used for attributing an "age at the moment of stress" for every skeleton in order to delineate the epidemiology of the enamel hypoplasia. When LEH frequency was analysed by age, two different age groups showed relevant patterns of hypoplasia: the first peak was evident in individuals between 14 and 20 years who were younger than 6 years at the time of the 62 AD earthquake, and a second peak was noted in adults of 30 +/- 5 years old, which suggests the presence of another stressful event that occurred 10 years before the earthquake, around 53 AD. The bimodal distribution of enamel hypoplasia could be the consequence of two different historical periods characterized by instability in the food supply, unhygienic conditions, and epidemic episodes; our data suggest that the first peak could be related to a decline in health status as an effect of the 62 AD earthquake. The relationship between recent natural disasters and variations in health status in modern populations is well documented in scientific literature. Our research represents the first attempt to correlate the status of health to an earthquake of known date in an archaeological population.

Origin, evolution and paleoepidemiology of brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a worldwide disease. Although it has been eradicated in some countries, it continues to be an important disease in many farming areas. Previous works have described the evolution and diffusion of brucellosis in antiquity through direct analysis of ancient human remains collected by the University Museum of Chieti, Italy, and by using paleopathological and historical data. The earliest published case was reported in a skeletal individual dated to the Middle Bronze Age. However, our research group has diagnosed vertebral brucellosis in the partial skeleton of the late Pliocene Australopithecus africanus, demonstrating that this infectious disease occasionally affected our direct ancestors 2·3-2·5 million years ago. The frequency of brucellosis increased during the Roman period, when the disease would almost certainly have been endemic in Roman society, and during the Middle Ages. Most paleopathological cases involve adult male skeletal individuals, and lumbar vertebrae and sacroiliac joints are most commonly involved.

[Post-microtraumatic cervical osteoarthritis in a cretaceus dinosaur]. / Artrosi cervicale post-microtraumatica in un dinosauro cretaceo.

The authors describe a very rare case of osteoarthritis in a cervical vertebra of a cretaceous dinosaur (Spinosaurus maroccanus). Besides it is one of the most ancient case of osteoarthritis published up today. The fossil record was studied through macroscopic and radiographic analyses and computed tomography scan.

[Paleobiology in the population of Herculaneum (79 A.D]. / Paleobiologia della popolazione di Ercolano (79 d.C.).

The anthropologic examination of the human skeletal remains recovered on the ancient beach of Herculaneum provides a unique opportunity for gaining paleobiological data on a Roman population. The eruption caught the people on the ancient beach as they were trying to escape; the volcanic surges and pyroclastic flows had different effects on them depending upon where they were on the beach. Those caught in the open suffered immediate dehydratation, with cranial explosion and complete burning of bones, whereas those trapped in the boat sheds suffered slower dehydration. Histological analysis of the bone remains reveals an exposure to temperatures of 350-400 degrees C; the slower dehydratation of those in the sheds resulted in the preservation of some soft tissues, which are exceptional findings.