C2-C3 block vertebrae in a late Neolithic/Chalcolithic child exhumed from a Portuguese collective grave.
Among the commingled and very fragmentary human remains exhumed from the prehistoric tumulus of Praia da Samarra (Sintra, Portugal) a fusion of the second and third cervical vertebrae in a subadult individual was detected. The more likely diagnosis for this abnormality is a congenital osseous malformation of the spine. A possible case of dens axis hypoplasia was also suggested. Besides the description of the case, potential pathological implications and differential diagnosis were investigated.
Silva
A M
AM
Department of Anthropology, University of Coimbra, Centro de Investigação em Antropologia, 3000-056 Coimbra, Portugal. amgsilva@antrop.uc.pt
Ferreira
M T
MT
D000293:Adolescent; D005580:Fossils; D005655:Funeral Rites; D006801:Humans; D011174:Portugal; D011859:Radiography; D013131:Spine / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging