Shark Bites Whale

Phys.Org mentions an interesting article published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. The article concerns a fragment of a whale rib, dating to the Pliocene, that shows evidence of a shark bite. In this case the rib also displays evidence of having survived the attack. From Phys.Org:

Rickets, Neanderthals, And Lubenow: Part Two

In the previous post in this series I looked at vitamin D metabolism and the effects of vitamin D deficiency on the skeleton. So, lets talk about Lubenow and Neanderthals. Lubenows discussion of Neanderthals and rickets occurs in chapter 14. He begins the chapter by invoking the Genesis flood to explain the ice ages, which [...]

Rickets, Neanderthals, And Lubenow: Part One

I have mentioned previously that I was reading Lubenow’s Bones of Contention. In this post I would like to focus on Lubenow’s understanding of rickets and Neanderthal morphology. In order to discuss that I first need to discuss vitamin D deficiency

Paleopathology of King Tutankhamun And His Relatives

As mentioned in a previous post Jama has published the results of some interesting research on Tutankhamun and his family.

Begging For An Article

Can some one send me a copy of the following article: Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family Zahi Hawass, PhD; Yehia Z. Gad, MD; Somaia Ismail, PhD; Rabab Khairat, MSc; Dina Fathalla, MSc; Naglaa Hasan, MSc; Amal Ahmed, BPharm; Hisham Elleithy, MA; Markus Ball, MSc; Fawzi Gaballah, PhD; Sally Wasef, MSc; Mohamed Fateen, MD; [...]

Global History of Health Project

I know I have mentioned this before (unfortunately, I can’t find where) but Richard Steckel and Jerome Rose (among others) are working on a fascinating project called the Global History of Health Project. One of the reasons that I brought this up is because the Jewish World review has a fascinating overview of the project:

Tuesday Paleopathology Blogging: Did STW 431 Have Brucellosis?

I’ve been meaning to mention this ever since the article was published in PLoS One. Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by any of several bacilli. It is primarily found in livestock such as cows, horses, pigs, and goats. It has also been found in wild animals such as zebra, eland, waterbuck, and impala. It [...]

The (PTC) Bitter Taste Test: Does it Apply To Neanderthals?

The PTC test is well known to the point of annoyance. Practically, every biological anthropology class I ever had mentioned it, as did a number of the cultural anthropology. A new article in Biology Letters – requires a subscription puts a new spin on the question.

Oldest Case of Paralysis in the Archaeological Record?

The Discovery Channel has an interesting story on what is, possibly, the oldest cast of human paralysis in the archaeological record. The skeleton dates to the Neolithic (circa 3,500-4,000 years ago) and was discovered in Vietnam – about 62 miles south of Hanoi.

Interesting Osteology and Paleopathology Related News

Science Daily mentions a number of interesting items related to Osteology and Paleopatholgy. First, Gene Vital To Early Embryonic Cells Forming A Normal Heart And Skull: In a study posted online June 15 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team at Cincinnati Children’s reports that too little of the gene/protein [...]

Pathology of Chimpanzee Skeletons At Kibale

Paleopathology, for all practical purposes, is the study of the diseases and traumas that affect humans in the past. Necessarily, it is restricted to the study of the skeleton which severely limits the scope of what diseases can be studied. Even with that restriction a wide variety of questions can be addressed. We can, for [...]

Interesting Anthropology News

There are a number of interesting anthropology stories in the news. My picks below the fold.

Cancer in Norway and the Concrete Pyramid Theory Resurfaces

Physorg.Com has an interesting story concerning two skeletons found in a viking ship burial discovered in Norway in the early 1900′s (the ship burial dates to 843). Recent DNA and x-ray evidence indicates that one of individuals had cancer:

Syphilis: The View from Bioarchaeology

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases recently published an interesting article called On the Origin of the Treponematoses: A Phylogenetic Approach. The paper used data from 21 genetic regions in 26 geographically separated strains of the Treponema bacterium. Before looking at the results of the PLoS study, however, a little bit of background is in order.

Mass Grave of Plague Victims Found

National Geographic Has an interesting story about the discovery of a large number of mass graves. The graves were found in Venice on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchi and belong to several centuries worth of plague victims.