ANTHROP 4R03 Lecture 3: Humans and Diseases Lecture
23 Apr 2018
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Main form of evidence is pathological changes to the skeleton: mummified tissue, calcified soft tissue, parasite eggs, dna human and pathogen. Other lines of evidence provide context, help with interpretation. You need to understand normal to identify abnormal or pathological. Bone reacts in only two ways: formation, resorption. So, other clues are important in differentiating conditions: location, pattern in the whole skeleton, context. Only some conditions affect the skeleton: chronic, longstanding disease. Need to understand the underlying pathological processes. Start with a list of possible conditions and narrow it down. Some lesions are caused by many things they do not, on their own, indicate a specific disease: periosteal new bone formation. We need to use other clues to determine the most likely diagnosis: e. g. Location and pattern in the skeleton: e. g. Specific lesions - categories of disease in the skeleton.
