Pathology
Definition
In skeletal osteology, a disease process or injury that occurred during the individual's lifetime and left a detectable trace on the skeleton through bone formation (callus, osteophytes, periostitis) or bone destruction (lytic lesions, porosity, joint surface erosion). Requires that the individual survived long enough for bone remodelling to occur.
- Field
- Skeletal osteology, forensic anthropology
- Cause
- Disease process or injury during life
- Evidence type
- Bone formation or bone destruction
- Requires
- Survival long enough for bone remodelling
- Contrast
- Pseudopathology and taphonomy
Common questions
How does true pathology differ from pseudopathology in skeletal remains?+
True pathology is a genuine disease or injury response that occurred during life and shows organized bone remodelling, while pseudopathology is damage that mimics disease but results from post-mortem processes like erosion, insect activity, or handling.
Why does bone remodelling matter for identifying pathology?+
Remodelling, such as callus formation at a healing fracture, takes time and living bone metabolism to occur, so its presence confirms the individual survived the injury or disease process rather than it happening around the time of death.
Related terms
- Behrensmeyer Weathering Stages
- A six-stage (0-5) macroscopic scale for characterising the degree of environmental weathering on bone, published by Anna Kay Behrensmeyer in Paleobiology (1978)....
- Buikstra-Ubelaker Standards
- The 'Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains' (1994, Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series 44), edited by Jane Buikstra and Douglas...
- Callus
- The new bone tissue formed at the site of a fracture during healing. Passes through stages of haematoma, fibrous callus (woven bone),...
- Eburnation
- The polished, ivory-like surface produced on bone when articular cartilage is completely lost in severe osteoarthritis and the opposing subchondral bone surfaces...
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
- The smallest number of distinct individuals required to account for all skeletal elements present in an assemblage. Determined by identifying the element...
- Periostitis
- Inflammation of the periosteum resulting in the deposition of new woven or lamellar bone on the outer cortical surface. Produced by infection,...
- Plexiform Bone (Taphonomy Context)
- In the pseudopathology context, the presence of plexiform bone structure in a cortical cross-section is used to exclude human origin rather than...
- Pseudopathology
- Postmortem modification of bone by a specific agent (rodents, carnivores, plant roots, mechanical forces) that superficially resembles a disease process or antemortem...
- Taphonomy
- The systematic modification of bone by environmental processes after death, operating over the burial or exposure interval. Includes weathering, soil staining, sun...