Quick death but hard signature: Paleopathology and the recognition of childhood mortality causes escaping the osteological paradox
| hal.structure.identifier | École Pratique des Hautes Études [EPHE] | |
| hal.structure.identifier | Archéosciences Bordeaux | |
| dc.contributor.author | DUTOUR, Olivier | |
| hal.structure.identifier | Archéosciences Bordeaux | |
| hal.structure.identifier | École Pratique des Hautes Études [EPHE] | |
| dc.contributor.author | COQUEUGNIOT, Hélène | |
| hal.structure.identifier | ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien [Archéorient] | |
| dc.contributor.author | LE MORT, Françoise | |
| dc.date.conference | 2024-11-20 | |
| dc.description.abstractEn | The osteological paradox (Wood et al., 1992) posits that rapidly fatal diseases leave no trace on the victims’ skeletons and that paleopathological observations primarily indicate morbidity. This principle, epitomized by the adage ”Better health makes for worse skeletons,” questions the validity of paleoepidemiological approaches in identifying causes of rapid mortality, particularly in childhood. Indeed, according to Wood et al. (p. 367), ”Infant and childhood death, when it occurs, happens quickly without leaving any hard-tissue signature” in cases of low general resistance, whereas for more resilient children, ”if decrepitude lasts long enough before death, then markers of this state could show up in the archaeological record.”This presentation aims to demonstrate, through concrete examples, that paleopathology can indeed detect the subtle yet specific signatures of rapidly fatal diseases in children. This is achieved through a extended knowledge of medico-historical literature and detailed morphological analyses of bone remains, including the use of μCT and 3D paleoimaging. Three case studies exemplify this approach: acute osteomyelitis, tuberculous meningitis, and Thomas Barlow’s disease-childhood fatal conditions whose prevalence is significantly underestimated in paleopathological research, partly due to the influence of the osteological paradox dogma.Wood James W., Milner George R., Harpending Henry C., Weiss Kenneth M., 1992. The osteological Paradox: Problems of Inferring Prehistoric Health from Skeletal Samples. CurrentAnthropology 33 (4): 343-358. | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject.en | Osteological paradox | |
| dc.subject.en | Childhood mortality | |
| dc.subject.en | Paleopathology | |
| dc.subject.en | Paleoepidemiology | |
| dc.subject.en | Acute osteomyelitis | |
| dc.subject.en | Tuberculous meningitis | |
| dc.subject.en | Thomas Barlow’s disease | |
| dc.title.en | Quick death but hard signature: Paleopathology and the recognition of childhood mortality causes escaping the osteological paradox | |
| dc.type | Communication dans un congrès | |
| dc.subject.hal | Sciences du Vivant [q-bio] | |
| dc.subject.hal | Sciences de l'Homme et Société | |
| bordeaux.conference.title | 16th Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of the Childhood in the Past | |
| bordeaux.country | FR | |
| bordeaux.conference.city | Pessac | |
| bordeaux.peerReviewed | oui | |
| hal.identifier | hal-04896168 | |
| hal.version | 1 | |
| hal.invited | non | |
| hal.proceedings | non | |
| hal.conference.end | 2024-11-23 | |
| hal.popular | non | |
| hal.audience | Internationale | |
| hal.origin.link | https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr//hal-04896168v1 | |
| bordeaux.COinS | ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.au=DUTOUR,%20Olivier&COQUEUGNIOT,%20H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne&LE%20MORT,%20Fran%C3%A7oise&rft.genre=unknown |
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