Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 81

OSTEOARTHRITIS IN THE SKELETAL POPULATION FROM SKELJASTAÐIR ICELAND; A REASSESSMENT
Site/Sex Male Female Unknown Total
Skeljastaðir Barton 10th/11th C 7/27 (25.9%) 62/216 (28.7%) 9/24 (37.5%) 25/164 (15.2%) 1/3 (n/a) 6/111 (5.4%) 17/54(31.5%) 93/491 (18.9%)
Table 2. Frequency of osteoarthritis by burial sites
Site Skeljastaðir Barton 10th/11th C
Lumbar vertebra 14.8% 5.2%
Cervical vertebra 11.1% 13.9%
Elbow 7.4% 2.6%
Hip 7.4% 2.4%
Hand 5.5% 8.1%
Wrist 3.7% 4.7%
Knee 1.9% 3.3%
Table 3. Distribution of osteoarthritis by joints
structures, were recorded, and other joint
changes such as osteophytes (abnormal
bone formation), fusion or erosion (abnor-
mal bone destruction), were also noted.
Osteoarthritis was only diagnosed in those
cases where either eburnation or two other
features of osteoarthritis, e.g. osteophytes
and a porous joint surface, were present.
This is firstly due to the fact that the lat-
ter features on their own can be associ-
ated with other processes. For example the
formation of osteophytes can be the result
of the natural ageing process. Secondly,
as has been shown through compara-
tive studies, features such as osteophytes
that may be recognised palaeopathologi-
cally are often missed on radiographs, and
recording these as osteoarthritis increases
the risk of over-diagnosing (Rogers and
Waldron, 1995). After the recording of
the skeletal pathology, four skeletons with
problematic lesions were radiographed by
kind permission of the Radiology Depart-
ment of the Landspítalinn Hospital. A
survey of the detailed skeletal recording
(SCD) made by Jón Steffensen was also
undertaken.
Results
No evidence of joint erosions suggestive
of rheumatoid arthritis was found in the
Skeljastaðir skeletal collection. Osteoar-
thritis was found in seventeen (31.5%) of
the fifty-four adult skeletons examined.
The prevalence was slightly higher in
women (37.5% vs. 25.9% in males, see
Table 2). These results were compared
with the findings from a large contem-
porary site in the northeast of England,
Barton upon Humber (the analysis of the
skeletal material was carried out by one
of the authors and awaits publication) as
well as a study of skeletons from 11 buri-
al sites of the Greenland Norse, dating to
the 10th-14th century. This latter material
is likely to represent individuals of the
same genetic background as the Icelandic
skeletons (Lynnerup, 1998).
Table 3 shows the prevalence of
osteoarthritis at different joint sites. The
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