Skeletal dysplasia of an adult male from medieval Łekno in Poland, Central Europe
Bibliographic Data
The skeletal dysplasias are a group of more than 450 heritable disorders that affect bone and cartilage, along with muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Achondroplasia is one of the most common skeletal dysplasias in both current and past populations. It can be transmitted intergenerationally, or it can result from a mutation. This paper aims to describe the lesions visible on the skeleton of a 30–45 year old male with achondroplasia, who lived during the 9th–11th centuries AD (medieval period) in Łekno, Poland. The Łekno settlement complex (Site 3) includes a cemetery with approximately 400 burials of monks and local lay people. Macroscopic examination facilitated a differential diagnosis that identified a probable case of achondroplastic dwarfism, combined with Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis and ulnar hemimelia. This is the first case of dwarfism in the bioarchaeological literature that had been documented and visualized using 3D modelings, which were used to show quantitative differences in articular surface areas between the achondroplastic individual and contemporaries of normal stature. Ulnar hemimelia is most commonly seen today as a component of skeletal dysplasias. The right ulna of this male was significantly shorter than the right radius and the left ulna. It is probable that he had multiple skeletal dysplasia (achondroplasia, Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis) as well as ulnar hemimelia as a component of achondroplasia. The combination of these disorders has not been previously reported in the bioarchaeological literature, and this individual is also the first case of achondroplasia and Léri–Weill dyschondrosteosis from the medieval period in Central Europe. As such, this example is used here to provide insights on a variety of different diseases, syndromes, and conditions in Polish medieval populations and that will help in future identification of rare diseases from archaeological sites
Achondroplasia · Biology · Dwarfism · Dysplasia · Ossification · Osteochondrodysplasia · Pathology · Skeleton (computer programming · Ulna · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Genital Health and Disease · Medical and Biological Sciences · Medicine · Anatomy · Genetics · Surgery
Overlapping genetic pathways in the skeletal dysplasias of a middle woodland individual
A case of dwarfism in 6th century Italy
Osteological evidence of short-limbed dwarfism in a nineteenth century Dutch family
Two cases of skeletal dysplasia from New Kingdom (c. 1400–1050 BCE) Tombos, Sudan
Skeletal age determination based on the os pubis
Stature estimation in an early medieval (XI‐XII c.) Polish population
A revised method of sexing the human innominate using Phenice's nonmetric traits and statistical methods
Chronological metamorphosis of the auricular surface of the ilium
A new method to estimate adult age‐at‐death using the acetabulum
A new method for estimating age‐at‐death from the first rib
Ectocranial suture closure
Dental wear in the Libben population
A newly developed visual method of sexing the os pubis
A Case of Dwarfism from the Byzantine City Rehovot-in-the-Negev, Israel
Rare example of an early medieval dwarf infant from Brownslade, Wales
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2024 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |