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Ochronosis (alkaptonuria) in a skeleton from a post‐Meroitic cemetery (5th century AD ) in Kassinger‐Bahri, Sudan
Author(s) -
GładykowskaRzeczycka Judyta J.,
Czerwiński Jacek
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of osteoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1099-1212
pISSN - 1047-482X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199909/10)9:5<307::aid-oa508>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - alkaptonuria , ochronosis , anatomy , medicine , surgery , dermatology
Bone material with features of ochronosis, coming from a post‐Meroitic cemetery (5th century ad ) in Kassinger, Sudan, is presented. Macroscopical description, X‐ray examination, biochemical and chemical analyses were made. Considerable discolouration of the partly calcified intervertebral discs, joint surfaces and articular cartilage, discoloured areas of ligaments, tendons and muscle attachments as well as degenerative changes of some joints were observed, leading to a clear diagnosis of alkaptonuria. Ochronosis in dry skeletal material is rather rare in the palaeopathological literature. Previously known cases of alkaptonuria, observed in Egyptian mummies, have been questioned. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.