Differential diagnosis of metabolic disease in a commingled sample from 19th century Hisban, Jordan

Stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes from human bone collagen (n = 20) were used to examine adult diet and infant feeding practices among the Ottoman-period Bedouin at Tell el-Hesi (ca. 1500-1800 CE). Among adults, δ 15 N values point to a diet dependent on animal protein, fitting with ethnohistoric accounts detailing the reliance of these communities on secondary animal products. Nevertheless, differential access to animal protein was evident between males (δ 15 N: x ̅ = 10.7 ± 0.4‰, 1σ) and females (x ̅ = 9.2 ± 0.6‰, 1σ), who consumed proportionally more plant proteins that likely included cereals used to make bread. Carbon isotope values (x ̅ = À 17.4 ± 0.4‰, 1σ) were similar between the sexes and suggest a mixed C 3 -C 4 diet, indicating that domesticated cultivars likely contributed to food intake alongside animal products and were either obtained through trade with more sedentary groups or

Section: The Skeletal Assemblage From Tell El‐hesimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diet and Weaning Among The Bedouinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic assessment of diet and infant feeding practices among Ottoman‐period Bedouin from Tell el‐Hesi

Gregoricka

Ullinger

2022

“…The general health status of the mother could have had a direct relationship to non‐adult deaths occurring at full‐term pregnancy, while diseases, environmentally impoverished living conditions, level of sanitation, healthcare, or nutrition should play a decisive role for deaths during infancy (Lewis, 2007). However, the fragmentation and commingling of non‐adult remains in this study limit considerably the diagnostic potential of these lesions; furthermore, caution is needed when interpreting such features because of difficulties of differentiating normal from pathological changes in remains of these ages (Perry & Edwards, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Health, diet, and mortuary practices in the countryside of Byzantine and post‐Byzantine Boeotia: The case of Hagios Sozon in Orchomenos

Tritsaroli

Mion

Herrscher

et al. 2022

This paper explores issues of health, diet, and mortuary practices in the countryside of Boeotia, Central Greece, during the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods (12th-19th centuries AD). Boeotia was one of the Byzantine Empire's most important economic and artistic centers with a flourishing life in the cities and the countryside alike and a varied (socially and culturally) population. The human remains unearthed in connection to the church of Hagios Sozon in Orchomenos were analyzed to investigate the everyday challenges and social makeup of the inhabitants in the countryside.The examination of paleopathological lesions and stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) in combination showed moderate living conditions, a homogenous terrestrial diet, and signs of mobility, while the consumption of freshwater food sources was not detected, despite the vicinity to Lake Copais. Finally, social differentiation was suggested through the construction of a family burial structure and the mortuary treatment for preterms, perinates, and infants.

“…co‐morbidities). As identified by Perry and Edwards (2021), there are no palaeopathological studies published so far that address how a co‐morbidity of scurvy and anaemia would manifest via orbital lesions. Clinically, anaemia and scurvy often co‐occur, because ascorbic acid improves dietary iron uptake (Johnston, 2020).…”

Section: Results: Diagnosis Of Child From Location #372mentioning

confidence: 99%

A child left behind: Malnutrition and chronic illness of a child from the Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery

Byrnes

Muller

2022

This osteobiography describes a probable disease co‐occurrence in a juvenile interred in the Erie County Poorhouse (ECPH) cemetery, Buffalo, New York. The remains were associated with a salvage excavation project at the University at Buffalo. The osteobiography details the palaeopathology of the skeletal remains of an 11‐ to 12‐year‐old child who died between 1851 and 1913 at the ECPH. The skeleton displayed lesion patterning consistent with co‐occurrence of healing scurvy, probable tuberculosis or another type of chronic bacterial infection, and possibly other metabolic disorders via co‐morbidity or co‐occurrence. In 19th‐century Buffalo, New York, a child with these pathologies, and their associated functional limitations, was likely disabled by society. This may have contributed to the child's stay in the ECPH and ultimate interment in its associated cemetery. The palaeopathology community will find the lesion manifestations insightful when attempting to diagnose co‐occurrence via skeletal remains in children. We were limited in the certainty of our diagnoses due to the pathological skeletal manifestations and preservation of the vertebral column, inability to conduct histological analyses, reburial of material in 2017, and thus no photos/radiographs of certain diagnostic items. Considerations about how age intersects with pathology can lead to insightful investigations of disability and impairment in the past.