PATHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN NEWBORN CHILDREN FROM THE 16TH-CENTURY IN HUELVA (SPAIN)

Archaeological infant remains rarely appear in the palaeopathological literature; above all there are few references to neonatal individuals . This work presents four infant pathological specimens from the crypt of the Emmita de la Soledad (sixteenth to nineteenth century, Huelva, Spain). The bones analysed-one right hemifrontal, two humeri and a fe mur-belong to at least two individuals of between 0 and 6 months of ag e. The differential diagnosis of the lesions-mainly detachments of the outer layer of cortical bone, areas of juxtametaphysial osteolysis an d epiphysial destructuralization-supports the hypothesis of an infecti ous aetiology, such as congenital treponematosis and haematogenous ost eomyelitis, although illness caused by a deficiency, such as scurvy or rickets, cannot be ruled out.