An Assortment of Palaeopathological Findings from the Anthro- Pological Collection of the Institute of Archaeology in Prague in Funds of the National Museum
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Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B, Historia Naturalis, 61 (3–4): 81–140 issued November 2005 Sborník Národního muzea, Serie B, Přírodní vědy, 61 (3–4): 81–140 AN ASSORTMENT OF PALAEOPATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS FROM THE ANTHRO- POLOGICAL COLLECTION OF THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRAGUE IN FUNDS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM JAKUB LIKOVSKÝ Department of Natural Sciences, Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Letenská 4, 118 01 Praha 1, Czech Republic, e-mail: [email protected] PETRA STRÁNSKÁ Department of Natural Sciences, Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Letenská 4, 118 01 Praha 1, Czech Republic PETR VELEMÍNSKÝ Department of Anthropology, National Museum, Prague, Václavské náměstí 68, 115 79 Praha 1, Czech Repub- lic, e-mail: [email protected] Likovský, J., Stránská, P., Velemínský, P. (2005): An Assortment of Palaeopathological Findings from the Anthropological Collection of the Institute of Archaeology in Prague in Funds of National Museum. – Acta Mus. Nat. Pragae, Ser. B, Hist. Nat. 61 (3–4): 81–140. Praha ISSN 0036-5343. In 1991, an assortment of palaeopathological findings on human skeletal remains, collected during several decades in the Department of Anthropology, later in the Department of Natural Sciences of the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Acade- my of Sciences in Prague was transferred together with the anthropological collections to the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum, Prague. The Department of Anthropology was founded in the Institute of Archaeology in the year 1950. Foundations for the assortment of pathological findings on skeletal remains of past populations were laid by the founder of the department, RNDr. Jaromír Chochol, CSc. (1926–1990) who primarily collected them as material usable in teaching stu- dents of prehistory in the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University in Prague. Among the findings, the most frequent are degenerative, traumatic and inflammatory conditions. However, a series of unique findings is also involved in the assortment, among them the oldest case of tuberculosis in the Czech region dated into the Eneolithic and several findings of primeval trepanations. Also several examples of the so-called pseudopathologies are included in the presented assortment of findings. The palaeopathological diagnoses were newly revised and the findings were provided with new documentation. Individual pathological findings will now be united with residual parts of their skeletons from which they were once taken into the as- sortment of palaeopathological findings. It must be admitted, that by such arrangement, the assortment of palaeopathological findings will be dispersed but the newly compiled documentation makes it possible to better treat both the material and the palaeopathological findings which thus may be better used as educational, comparative and instructional material. I Anthropology, palaeopathology, pseudopathology, intentional interventions, trepanation, tuberculosis. Received October 10, 2005 Introduction The aim of the present study is to elucidate the circum- The assortment of palaeopathological findings on hu- stances in which the assortment of palaeopathological find- man skeletal remains collected through the 1980s in the ings was formed in the Department of Anthropology of the Department of Anthropology of the Institute of Archaeolo- Institute of Archaeology, to trace the fate of findings and to gy of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague was trans- treat the nature of the completed assortment. The present ferred in 1991 to the Department of Anthropology of the paper may also serve as a catalogue of findings involved in National Museum. The findings were not systematically se- the assortment, since not all of them were published in the lected for their assortment of pathologies and the paleo- past or incorporated into the survey of known palaeopatho- pathological resources of that time were limited compared logical findings (Hanáková and Vyhnánek 1981). to those available today. Despite that, the assortment in- cludes a broad spectrum of pathological states and a num- Department of Anthropology in the Institute ber of cases are remarkable – for the proper pathological of Archaeology and the origin of the assortment changes, their extent and for dating the finding with con- The Department of Anthropology in the former State crete sort of pathology. Institute of Archaeology was founded by RNDr. Jaromír Palaeopathological diagnoses were revised and consult- Chochol, CSc. (1926–1990) in January 1950. It was the first ed with a number of specialists in clinical medicine, de- workplace specializing in the study of prehistoric and his- tailed photographic documentation and – if necessary – toric human skeletons or burnt residues obtained from X-ray pictures of the findings were made. archaeological investigations (Blajerová and Šaldová 1986). 81 The former Department of Anthropology was initially used for years at assorted findings, densitometry was re- located in the library of the institute, later a space was found cently added to the group of X-ray examination methods. in the former hotel “Modrá Hvězda” in Újezd street in This clinical method, which is used for diagnostics of os- Prague. There it stayed until 1964, when it was moved to the teoporosis, came to be applied in paleopathology for inves- seat of the Institute of Archaeology in Letenská Street, the tigating bone mineral density in groups of archaeological Lesser Town in Prague – in the so-called Krocovský House skeletons. The aim is to get insight into the trends of – into the former horse stable. In this space it resides today development of bone mineral density: it should help to un- as a part of the Department of Natural Sciences, which be- derstand the reasons why osteoporosis is progressing sides anthropology and paleopathology includes archaeozo- among populations in the present time. This problem is cur- ology, archaeobotanics and archaeogenetics. rently being studied in several centres, mostly in Europe Until the mid 1960s the depositories were located in the (Ekenman and al. 1995, Lees and al. 1993, Mays and al. already mentioned “Modrá Hvězda” and in “Ungelt” in the 1998, Mays 1999, Poulsen and al. 2001). Another clinical Old Town of Prague. The anthropological material was lat- method, endoscopy, which is used mainly for examination er moved into the space of the former Franciscan Convent at of the digestive tract, came to be used in palaeopathology in the Holy Trinity Church in Slaný and remained there until 1975, primarily for investigating mummies (first by Ma- the early 1980s. The buildings of former schools in nialawi and al. 1978). In our country, endoscopy is used for Hněvkovice close to Humpolec and in Obora served as ad- examination of intracranial structures and anomalies ditional depositories. In 1991 the material was transferred (Likovský and Drda 2003, Velemínský and al. 2005). from the Department of Anthropology into the collections Microscopy, which requires much exacting work, is not of the National Museum in Prague. In the early 1990s, the often used in palaeopathology; however, modern modifica- material was moved into subterranean halls beneath the tions, e.g. scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning Prague Castle, then into the space of former winter stables confocal microscopy (Šefčáková and al. 2001, Němečková of the Czechoslovak State Circuses in Prague – Horní and Strouhal 2003) enhance the accuracy of some dia- Počernice in whose neighbourhood new modern deposito- gnoses, mainly at sites of tumour lesions. ries for the National Museum – Museum of Natural The most modern diagnostic branch – molecular genetics Sciences were built in the late 1990s. The material is cur- – is usable mainly in detecting originators of infectious dis- rently deposited there. eases. Detection of tuberculosis and leprosy is already An impetus to collecting the pathological findings was widespread in the world (in our country Strouhal and al. given in the time when J. Chochol began to read lectures on 2002); the method should be helpful in diagnostics of dis- principles of anthropology to students of prehistory in eases which do not cause morphological changes in bones Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University in Prague. Par- and which may be estimated from the circumstances of dis- tially due to the above-mentioned repeated moving of the covery relating e.g. to pestilence (Guiyoule and al. 1994). material basis and to the isolation from the Department of With the development of palaeopathological diagnostics Anthropology, the selection of findings into the assortment it is possible to differentiate the viewpoints from which the of palaeopathological findings has not been systematic. The study is approached: we speak then about geographic, de- assortment was assembled in the Department of Anthro- mographic and historical palaeopathology (Vyhnánek pology of the Institute of Archaeology mainly by J. Cho- 1999). Palaeopathology of populations studies and evalu- chol but it involves many findings from burial grounds ates the frequency and – if desired – the intensity of chosen which were anthropologically treated by other members of pathologic states in dependence on age and sex for all evalu- the department at that time (M. Blajerová, H. Hanáková, able individuals in a firmly dated group. Palaeopathological M. Stloukal) and it also involves findings from skeletal col- casuistic describes in detail findings for only one individu-