A POSSIBLE CASE OF HYDROCEPHALUS IN A MEDIEVAL CHILD FROM DOONBOUGHT FORT, CO ANTRIM, NORTHERN-IRELAND

Hydrocephalus is a condition that is rarely found in the palaeopatholo gical record. It has been demonstrated in a modern study of untreated cases of hydrocephalus that 50 per cent of children suffering from the disease die within the first 18 months of life. It is probable that t he situation was the same in archaeological populations and that the d elicate nature of neonatal and infant crania accounts for the paucity of palaeopathological evidence. As far as the author is aware there ar e approximately 30 possible cases of hydrocephalus known in the archae ological record throughout the world and only two of these cases origi nated in the British isles. The following report presents evidence of a case of possible hydrocephalus in a 6-7-year-old juvenile from North ern Ireland. The skeleton was recovered from a post-thirteenth century context during excavations at the secular medieval fort of Doonbought , Co. Antrim. The diagnosis of hydrocephalus has been made on the basi s of the abnormal and enlarged morphology and increased cranial capaci ty of the cranium. The only other palaeopathological lesion present in the remains was cribra orbitalia.