Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2006, Page 82

Hildur Gestsdóttir, Helgi Jónsson, Juliet Rogers and Jón Thorsteinsson
high prevalence of osteoarthritis of the
lurabar vertebrae, elbow and hip was par-
ticularly noteworthy in the Skeljastaðir
skeletons when compared to the results
from Barton, which show a higher preva-
lence at different sites, such as the cer-
vical vertebrae and the hand. The Green-
land sample showed similarities in joint
distribution to the Skeljastaðir sample
(not shown in the table), but poor preser-
vation of the skeletons accounted for very
low prevalence figures and means that the
results are not statistically viable. Eight
individuals (14.8%) from the Skeljastaðir
cemetery had osteoarthritis at more than
one site.
Conclusion
In this study of fifty-four Icelandic high
medieval skeletons, no evidence of rheu-
matoid arthritis was found, but a high
prevalence of osteoarthritis, particularly
of the hip and lumbar vertebra. Those
cases that were described as polyarthri-
tis in the original report (Jón Steffensen,
1943) had osteoarthritis at more than one
joint site and some of these would be
referred to as generalized osteoarthritis
today.
It must be borne in mind that
the ideas regarding the development of
arthritis have evolved since the original
analysis of the Skeljastaðir material. In
his report Jón Steffensen looked for asso-
ciation between dental status and multi-
ple affection of joints. This association is
not considered to be of importance with
regard to joint lesions today, but was typi-
cal for that period. In general there was
excellent agreement between Jón Stef-
fensen’s meticulous notes, now entered
into the National Museum’s skeletal data-
base (SCD), and the findings of this reas-
sessment.
Of course, prevalence figures
from such a small sample must be viewed
with caution. However, it is interesting
to speculate on the differences between
Skeljastaðir and Barton upon Humber.
The high prevalence of hip osteoarthritis
in the Skeljastaðir population is analo-
gous with that of studies of Icelanders
today (Ingvarsson et al., 1999), and may
indicate that this form of osteoarthritis
has long been common in Iceland. There
is also evidence that the prevalence of dif-
ferent forms of osteoarthritis in Iceland
may be different in different parts of the
country. Today a number of families with
hereditary hip osteoarthritis are known
in regions near Skeljastaðir (Ingvarsson,
personal communication).
The present findings raise a
number of questions regarding arthrit-
ic changes in Icelandic skeletons. The
absence of rheumatoid arthritis in this
small sample is not surprising, but the high
prevalence of osteoarthritis and the possi-
ble association with the genetic predispo-
sition of the current population encourages
further studies on larger samples.
References
Aufderheide AC & Rodríguez-Martín C.
1998. The Cambridge Encyclopedia
of Human Palaeopathology. Cam-
bridge University Press: Cambridge.
Bass WM. 1995. Human Osteology:
A Laboratory and Field Manual.
Special Publication No.2, Missouri
Archaeological Society Columbia,
Missouri.
Brooks ST and Suchey JM. 1990. Skel-
etal Age Determination Based on
the Os Pubis: A Comparison of the
Acsádi-Nemeskéri and Suchey-
Brooks Methods. Human Evolutions
5: 227-238.
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