Summary
Study of two Paleo-Eskimo skulls found in a necropolis on St-Lawrence Island (Alaska), including radiography and histological examination, revealed the following features. One of the skulls showed a perforation with remodelled borders, considered to be due to trauma and secondary infection. The other showed areas of osteolysis characteristic of a malignant tumor (probably carcinomatous metastasis rather than myeloma).
These cases illustrate the advantage of using various methods of investigating bone pathology, particularly microradiography, in skeleton paleopathology.
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Lagier, R., Baud, C.A., Arnaud, G. et al. Lesions characteristic of infection or malignant tumor in Paleo-Eskimo skulls. Virchows Arch. A Path. Anat. and Histol. 395, 237–243 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429350