Obesity in the paleolithic era.

Photos and/or copies of one hundred Upper Paleolithic (45,000-40,000 to 10,000 BP) statues were studied, the photos having been taken from the frontal, lateral and back view. Among the 97 female idols studied, 24 were skinny (mainly young women), 15 were of normal weight, while more than half of them (51) represented overweight or very obese females whose breasts were also extremely large. The figurine analysis revealed various types of obesity. Increased fat tissue deposition can be seen in the following body parts: belly only in 2 Venus figurines, belly + hip in 10, belly + gluteal + hip in 14, belly + hip + gluteal + femora in 24 and diffuse obesity in one. Steatopygia (derived from the Greek "steato" meaning fat, and "pygia" meaning buttocks and describing excessive fat of the buttocks) was observable in 7 idols, although these females were not particularly overweight and had a reasonably thin waist and legs. Only seven statues were in the state of advanced gravidity (pregnancy). The presence of such a small number of gravidity statuettes challenges the general view concerning Venus idols, namely, that they all represent female fertility.

Goiter depicted in Byzantine artworks.

Pathologies depicted in sacral works of western civilisation are widely known. However, in this regard, the very rich and important Byzantine art, and particularly sacral art, has been largely ignored. Research carried out on 500 artworks has disclosed 119 pictures revealing 36 different physiological conditions (gravidity, labour) or pathological conditions (goiter, joint diseases, palsy etc.). Goiter, most likely as a result of iodine deficiency, is portrayed in 42 individuals (6 females, 14 males, 4 children and 18 angels). However, although the Byzantine sacral artworks give evidence of many pathological conditions, the diagnosed pathologies cannot be considered representative of the general population.

Ankylosis of limb joints in a medieval cemetery from Bátmonostor, Hungary.

SUMMARY: Bony ankylosis of articulations is a rarely described alteration in the palaeopathological literature. This study presents 30 cases of ankylosis among 426 skeletons of the cemetery Bátmonostor (Southern Hungary) from middle ages. The material comprised four cases of knee, one case of hip, eight cases of tibio-fibularis joints and eight cases of metatarsals and tarsalia, two cases of malleolar joint, one case of wrist, four cases of sternoclavicularis, one case of carpo-metacarpal and one of radio-ulnar ankylosis. All individuals with joint fusion are adults, mostly between 41 and 60 years or over 60 at death. Two thirds of cases are male. The most interesting cases are briefly described.

Histologic diagnoses of tissues from two nineteenth century Habsburgs.

This study describes the histological alterations of the internal organs of Prince Joseph Habsburg (1776-1847) and his first wife, Alexandra Pavlovna Romanova (1783-1801). Both corpses were mummified and the internal organs were stored separately in rosemary oil, in metal vessels. Royal Prince Joseph Habsburg died on 13 January 1847. The microscopic study confirms focal subacute glomerulonephritis (type Berg) with IgA precipitate on the glomerular mesangium and Bowmann's capsule. To the best of this author's knowledge, this is the first case in the paleopathological literature in which the subacute IgA glomerulonephritis could be confirmed immunohistochemically. Gout (urate nephropathy), severe arteriosclerosis, prostate adenoma and purulent prostatitis could also be diagnosed. The Prince's first wife, Alexandra Pavlovna Romanova, died in childbirth at age 18 years, along with her newborn daughter. Histological examination of Alexandra's organs revealed severe fibrocaseous and miliary tuberculosis, with dissemination to the lymph nodes, liver and spleen.

[Trephined skulls in Hungary]. / Trepanált koponyák Magyarországon. 115 eset osszesítése.

Trephination of the cranial vault is the oldest known surgical procedure and has often been reported in literature. Residuals of ancient trephinations have been found all over Europe. In present study both the recorded and unpublished trephined cases found in Hungary are reviewed. Four Neolithic, two Copper Age, eight Bronze Age, seven Covering Age (4th-6th century AD), twelve Awar Age (7th-9th century AD) seventy one Conquest Age (10th century AD) and eleven Arpadian Age (11th-13th century) cases are found. On the base of archeological, historical and paleopathologic aspects trephination is mainly (67%) connected with the Hungarians of the 10th century. The finds in our study are from whole territories of country (North-East Hungary, the zone of Great Plain, Northern Highlands, Danube-Tisza Mid-Region, the broader geographical vicinity of Budapest, Transdanubia and Transylvania). The surgical trepanation was practiced on both males (75.6%), females (15.7%), from the second period of infancy (2.6%) until the beginning senility, and persons. with undetermined age and gender. Considering the presumed time of the trephination and the time of death, trephinations were employed for every age, while the majority of investigations were performed on persons between 21 and 50 years of age. The majority of trephinations (84.4%) were performed in the parietal and/or frontoparietal regions. The long time surviving rate is 63% among the pre-Hungarians, while 84% among the 10th century Hungarian cases. The records of trephined cases excavated in Hungary are published in Hungarian, mostly in the annals of museums, but no cases were published in international periodicals. Consequently, the giant great trephined material (115 cases) of Hungary is unknown in the international scientific literature, although, in their detailed study Piek et al. (1999) counted altogether 450 trephined skulls found in Europe.