Article1997

Congenital Syphilis in the Archaeological Record: Diagnostic Insensitivity of Osseous Lesions

Bruce M. Rothschild · Christine Rothschild

29 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology

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Paleopathology and ancient diseases Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies

Abstract

The paucity of convincing evidence for congenital bone lesions of syphilis in the archaeological record led to study of the human remains from the Buffalo site in West Virginia, dated at 550—650 years BP. The diagnosis of syphilis (venereal) in adults was based on previously validated population criteria for the recognition of syphilis and its distinction from among the other treponemal diseases. Among the 151 juveniles (23.3 per cent of the total series), only one had macroscopic evidence of periosteal disease. The low frequency of recognizable osseous stigmata characteristic of congenital syphilis, combined with the conspicuous absence of pathognomonic dental lesions, make such periosteal lesions insufficiently sensitive criteria for the identification of syphilis in the archaeological record. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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References

1992Human paleopathology: Current syntheses and future options 1988The Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis: Paleopathological Diagnosis and Interpretation [and Comments and Reply]1978Prevalence and possible etiology of dental enamel hypoplasia 1995Treponemal Disease Revisited: Skeletal Discriminators for Yaws, Bejel, and Venereal Syphilis 1992A new world of infectious disease 1971Bozo Skerlj, anthropologist (1904-1961).1979Human treponematosis and tuberculosis: Evidence from the New World 1993Characterization of the Skeletal Manifestations of the Treponemal Disease Yaws as a Population Phenomenon

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