Paleopathology

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Paleopathology (from Greek παλαιός, palaios "old", and Greek-German pathology ) deals with diseases and degenerative changes in historical and prehistoric epochs , in particular with the determination of diseases from early historical skeletal remains and mummy finds.

As a young science it is dynamic; there is still no direct training. Paleopathologists qualify through their study of historical corpses as part of a medical ( pathology / forensic medicine ) or biological (prehistoric anthropology ) training.

Research history

The English bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer is considered to be the founder of paleopathology . As in Egyptology , in paleopathology it was mainly individuals who developed the methods and techniques and shaped the branch of science. For example, Philippe-Charles Schmerling had already described pathological findings on the animal fossils he discovered in 1833/34 in his work Recherches sur les ossements fossils découverts dans les cavernes de la Province de Liège .

Investigation methods

When investigating directly on the individual, a distinction is made between invasive and non-invasive methods. Non-invasive methods do not invade the body, so the find is not damaged.

  • Non-invasive methods
  • Invasive methods
    • Thin sections for microscopy
    • molecular biological examination (e.g. old DNA )
    • chemical-analytical tests (e.g. for the detection of poisons)

In addition, in rare cases there are also examinations of traditional faeces , for example in medieval latrines or coprolites (fossilized dung), which can provide information about the intestinal parasite infestation of those who caused it.

Some areas are examined in more detail below:

Examination of hard tissue

Bones and teeth are usually best preserved - or in the majority of cases as the only remnants - and the methods are accordingly often used on these tissues. The investigation focuses on:

  • Degenerative changes , that is, signs of wear and tear on the bones due to excessive or incorrect loading, including, for example, osteoarthritis of the joints. These changes fall into the "normal" range as long as there are no complaints. If, on the other hand, massive changes or inflammations are recognizable, we speak of pathological (i.e. pathological) changes. The transition from degenerative to pathological is fluid, but is expressed, for example, by the separation of osteoarthritis (= purely degenerative) and arthritis (= pathological).
  • Infectious diseases leave less visible traces, but there are exceptions such as tooth decay , inflammatory processes near the bone (for example periodontitis / gingivitis or poorly healed, deep wounds). Most infectious diseases can be diagnosed with certainty even more rarely, with theexception of osteomyelitis or syphilis , which leave typical symptoms on the bones.
  • New formations such as kidney or bladder stones , but also new tissue formations (especially on the bones, for example tumors ) can be detected under favorable conditions of preservation and with proper recovery
  • Trauma , that is, physical violence on tissue (broken bones, for example) and the course of their healing.
  • Deficiency symptoms are also detectable in certain areas, for example anemia causes the breakdown of the covering bone layer in the roof of the eye socket (so-called cribra orbitalia ). Rickets , that is, bone softening due to a vitamin D deficiency, also leaves clear traces.
  • The course of growth in certain areas, such as the tooth enamel or the long bones, can also be documented, so slowing or stagnation of growth is reflected in enamel hypoplasia (malformations in the form of horizontal grooves) and so-called Harris lines (lines in the cross section of the long bone ends) .
  • Hereditary diseases are also detectable if they affect bone growth. However, due to their rare occurrence, combined with the often early death of those affected and the correspondingly poor preservation of fragile children's bones, they belong to the marginal phenomena of paleopathological research. (Ex .: hydrocephalus , microcephalus , scaphocephalus )

Molecular biological studies

In organic remnants, which can be limited to a few cells (e.g. within the compact bone), endogenous substances can be detected under favorable conservation conditions. Current research in this area is focused on studying ancient DNA , which may reveal information about infectious diseases. In this way, for example, the plague has already been identified in early medieval skeletons from Bavaria . Other infections, such as malaria, have also been detected, but not all pathogens seem to leave behind observable traces in old material - molecular biological detection of syphilis, for example, has so far failed.

In the future, hereditary diseases will probably also be detectable in this way, in any case those that are caused by gene mutations .

Knowledge gain

According to the documentation, the observed symptoms are used for each individual to reconstruct his or her life story, but especially his or her medical history. As we have seen, clear clinical pictures are rare, the causes of the deficiency symptoms and slow growth are also difficult to determine due to their possible diversity (diseases, malnutrition / malnutrition). On the other hand, by looking at other anthropological (age of death, gender) and archaeological data (place of burial, grave building, grave goods or the like), statements about living conditions in general and about possible distribution patterns of certain phenomena within a society can be made. In this way, it can be determined in detail whether certain parts of the population were exposed to greater physical stress than others, such as men and women or poorer and richer ones, or whether they show certain symptoms more frequently. For example, based on the burials in the Magdalenenberg in Hallstatt , Johannes Müller was able to prove that richer grave equipment correlated with caries infestation, i.e., materially better off people also consumed better quality food (finer ground flour favors, in addition to desserts and the like, caries).

In some cases it is also possible to describe therapies against diseases and traumas in times past with the help of paleopathological observations (see medical history ). The skull openings ( trepanations ), which have occurred since the Mesolithic , are probably the best-known example of this - although in addition to the medical indication, other causes, e.g. religious in nature, can be cited as explanations.

The use of degeneratives to estimate the age of death is also widespread in prehistoric anthropology, especially in the Anglo-American region, although the strong environmental dependence of these characteristics is known.

literature

  • George J. Armelagos , James O. Mills: paleopathology. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 604-07.
  • Don R. Brothwell , Andrew Tawse Sandison (Eds.): Diseases in Antiquity: a survey of the diseases, injuries, and surgery of early populations. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill. 1967.
  • Alfred Czarnetzki (ed.): Mute witnesses of their suffering. Illness and Treatment Before the Medical Revolution. Attempto, Tübingen 1996, ISBN 3-89308-258-1 . (Recommended introductory literature, clearly explained on the basis of many case studies of paleopathological findings and richly illustrated).
  • C. Roberts & K. Manchester: The Archeology of Disease . 2nd Edition. Ithaca 1995. ISBN 0-8014-3220-0 (detailed overview of application and methods, manual)
  • Charlotte Roberts (Ed.): The Global History of Paleopathology. Pioneers and Prospects , Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Doris Schwarzmann-Schafhauser, Kamal Sabri Kolta: Paläopathologie. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , pp. 1089-1093.
  • C. Wells: Diagnosis 5000 years later: Illness and healing arts in the early days of man. German translation. Lübbe, Ulm 1967.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ I. Wiechmann, G. Grupe: Detection of Yersinia pestis DNA in two early medieval skeletal finds from Aschheim (Upper Bavaria, 6th century AD) . Am J Phys Anthropol. 2005; 126: pp. 48-55
  2. ↑ J. Müller: On the social structure of the community after burial of Magdalenenberg near Villingen . In: Prehistoric Journal . 69/1994. P. 176ff.