Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 77

Hildur Gestsdóttir, Helgi Jónsson,
Juliet Rogers and Jón Thorsteinsson
OSTEOARTHRITIS IN THE SKELETAL
POPULATION FROM SKELJASTAÐIR
ICELAND; A REASSESSMENT
The objective of this study was to reassess the diagnoses of arthritis in skeletons
excavated in 1939 at the site of Skeljastaðir in Þjórsárdalur, Iceland. In the original
palaeopathological report by Professor Jón Steffensen, several cases of polyarthri-
tis were described. The fifty-four available adult skeletons were re-examined using
modern terminology and methods. Osteoarthritis was diagnosed where either ebur-
nation or two other criteria such as osteophytes and a porous joint surface were
noted. No evidence of inflammatory or erosive arthritis was seen, but osteoarthritis
was diagnosed in 31.5% of the skeletons and in 14.8% there were signs of osteoar-
thritis at more than one joint site. The term polyarthritis in the original report cor-
responds with the modern diagnosis of osteoarthritis at more than one site. There
was a high prevalence of osteoarthritis at the hip and lumbar vertebrae compared
to contemporary English skeletons. The joint distribution of osteoarthritis in these
skeletons is particularly interesting in view of recent studies indicating a very high
prevalence of hip osteoarthritis in Iceland. Genetic factors are of importance in the
development of osteoarthritis and these results indicate that further palaeopatho-
logical studies may yield valuable information in this field.
Hildur Gestsdóttir, Institute of Archaeology, Bárugata 3, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.
hildur@instarch.is. Tel: +354-5511033. Fax: +354-5511047
Helgi Jónsson, Landspítalinn University Hospital, Iceland
fjuliet Rogers (deceased)
Jón Thorsteinsson, Landspitalinn University Hospital, Iceland
Key words: Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, aetiology, palaeopathology,
Skeljastaðir, medieval Iceland
Introduction
The cemetery at Skeljastaðir in Þjórsár-
dalur, Iceland, was excavated during
a Nordic archaeological expedition in
1939. Professor Jón Steffensen carried
out the original analysis of the human
remains and the results were published
in the report of the excavation (Jón
Steffensen, 1943). In the course of his
analysis he identified several cases of
polyarthritis. Today the term is used to
describe chronic inflammatory or erosive
arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. The
cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown,
although it does have the characteristics
of an autoimmune nature, i.e., a condition
Archaeologia Islandica 5 (2006) 75-81