Pseudopathology Flashcards
What is Palaeopathology
The study of how people suffered in the past through human remains
What can Palaeopathology show us
Interactions between people and their environments, social statue, Occupation, agriculture/industrialization, diet, history of disease, treatment of the sick, violence and warfare and population movement
What are the limitations to Palaeopathology
This disease must be chronic, cannot diagnose acute conditions, cannot determine cause of death, only small percentage of people develop bone changes and bone is limited in the way it responds
What would you need to record when looking at Palaeopathology
Appearance - type, active or healed, Distribution - which done and part, Demography - Age/sex and preservation
What is a lytic legion
Holes - loss of bone
What is a blastic legion
Bump - extra bone
What is hypotrophic
Loss of bone, this usually affects the whole bone so the bone has reduced in size
What is hypertrophic
Extra bone, then bone is swollen and thick
What is radioopaque
Legions under an xray show up white and dense
What is radiolucen
Legions show up darker on an xray, thin bone or holes usually
What is woven bone
Active healing, person dies before the new bone could become fully organised
What is lamellar bone
Lines on the bone usually the same colour, showing bone healed before death
What is the difference between Focal and diffuse legions
Focal is in one area/bone and diffuse is across multiple areas or bone
What is Pseudopathology
Occurs due to taphonomic processes - everything that happens to the skeleton after death
Name some types of Pseudopathology
Rodent gnawing, Root etching, cracking, Soil pressure, Soil Ph, staining
