The Osteological Paradox and Issues of Interpretation in Paleopathology

Abstract

Paleopathologists identify diseases in bioarchaeological remains by the observation of skeletal lesions. However those that succumb to death shortly after contracting a disease will not show any signs of sickness on their skeleton, while those that were able to live much longer with the disease will have developed bony lesions. Due to this osteological paradox the question of a disease’s occurrence may be overlooked or misinterpreted, which in turn can lead to grandiose statements that some diseases were rare or nonexistent in ancient times. This paper examines the osteological paradox and calls for paleopathologists to adopt a biocultural perspective, looking to multiple lines of evidence as well as eliminating the perceived binary of healthy and unhealthy. It is this strict binary that led to the creation of the osteological paradox and hinders paleopathological interpretations.

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