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Cases of serpens endocrania symmetrica in young individuals from Neolithic Western Switzerland: Description and interpretation
Author(s) -
Abegg Claudine,
Dutour Olivier,
Desideri Jocelyne,
Besse Marie
Publication year - 2020
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/oa.2863
Subject(s) - paleopathology , prehistory , interpretation (philosophy) , scurvy , documentation , geography , history , archaeology , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , vitamin c , computer science , programming language
Endocranial lesions known as serpens endocrania symmetrica (SES) appear relatively frequently in the paleopathological record, but their significance often goes undiscussed. For the past decade, however, research has proved conclusively that their presence is an indicator of illnesses within the corpus. As such, cases found in the archaeological record can provide clues as to the kinds of diseases that prehistoric populations endured. We report four cases of young individuals from Neolithic Western Switzerland bearing SES on their craniums and discuss the implications of such findings in terms of the paleopathological profile of these populations. The following article provides documentation for each case as well as a differential diagnosis including tuberculosis, meningitis, trauma, and metabolic conditions such as scurvy. These four individuals represent the oldest cases of such lesions described for this region.