Porous skeletal lesions in a pre-Hispanic non-adult individual from Santiago del Estero, Northwest Argentina.

PALADEA ROJO, AILÉM; LUNA. L.; ARANDA, C.; LÓPEZ COSTAS, OLALLA

Coimbra

Congreso; International Meeting on Porous Skeletal Lesions: achievements and future directions; 2023

Universidad de Coimbra

The study of porous skeletal lesions in individual cases can provide insights into healthand relationships with the environment during childhood, especially in regions such asSantiago del Estero, NW Argentina, where the finding of pre-Hispanic multiple burials isuncommon. This work aims to describe the porotic skeletal lesions identified in a nonadultindividual from the Pie del Cerro Blanco site. The skeleton belongs to a 5-6 yearsoldindividual; it was buried in a secondary position inside a pottery urn, and relativelydated to the first millennium CE. Highly severe active porotic lesions (following Mangas-Carrasco and López-Costas 2021, Rinaldo et al. 2019) were found on the left orbit (cribraorbitalia), both humeral necks (cribra humeralis) and the right femur neck (cribrafemoralis); the left femoral neck and right orbit are not preserved. Thickened nutrientforamina with vascular imprints were also recorded in the glabellar region of the cranium,humeral and femoral shafts, while periosteal reactions were noted on the diaphysis of thetibiae. The porotic lesions point to a long homeostatic disruption, as well as intense dentalenamel hypoplasias observed in upper permanent incisors, produced when the individualwas about 3.5-4.5 years old. Information obtained from isotopic dietary reconstructionand images (multi Slice CT and conventional radiographs) is considered to addresscausality. The connection of the lesions with physiology, environment, and availability ofresources is discussed. It is highlighted that this is the first paleopathological researchcarried out in the region.