Porotic hyperostosis as a marker of health and nutritional conditions during childhood: Studies at the transition between imperial Rome and the earlymiddle ages
L. Salvadei et al., Porotic hyperostosis as a marker of health and nutritional conditions during childhood: Studies at the transition between imperial Rome and the earlymiddle ages, AM J HUM B, 13(6), 2001, pp. 709-717
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Sociology & Antropology","Medical Research General Topics
Porotic hyperostosis, characterized by small and localized perforations on
the surface of cranial bones, is considered a good indicator for assessing
the health and nutritional status of past human populations. The most widel
y accepted theory at present indicates that anemias, either acquired or of
genetic origin, are responsible for the bony lesions described as porotic h
yperostosis. In this paper, the prevalence of these lesions in two skeletal
samples from Latium (central Italy) was used to evaluate health and life c
onditions in Italy after the collapse of the Roman Empire. One sample belon
gs to the Roman Imperial Age (1st-3rd centuries A.D.) rural town of Lucus F
eroniae; the other comes from the 7th century A.D. Lombard necropolis of Se
lvicciola. The prevalence of cribra orbitalia and cribra cranii was quite s
imilar in the two samples but slightly more frequent in the Medieval commun
ity. Differential diagnosis suggested iron deficiency anemia in early child
hood as the causative agent of the hyperostotic lesions in both samples. Th
ese results may be interpreted in light of previous examinations of same sa
mples and according to their respective historical and socio-economical cha
racteristics. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.