FIRST EVIDENCE OF ELONGATED STYLOID PROCESS IN AN INDIVIDUAL FROM CORDOBA HILLS, ARGENTINA (533 ± 42 14C BP)

SALEGA, SOLEDAD; FABRA, MARIANA

Buenos Aires

Jornada; VI Paleopathological Meeting in South America, (VI PAMINSA); 2015

Paleopathology Association

Congenital disorders are rarely found in archaeological cases. In particular, there are few reported cases of defects of the second branchial arch (Barnes 1994: 207). These include the complete or partial ossification of the stylohyoid ligament, which originates a clinical condition known as elongated styloid process syndrome, or Eagle syndrome (1948) when it causes clinical symptoms such as chronic facial and cervical pain, sensation of a foreign body in the throat, and dysphagia (Constantinides et al. 2013; Kyriakou et al. 2012, Gokce et al. 2008, Orhan 2005). Since this pathology has been rarely reported (Bulent Ozdemir et al. 2013; Rajic Sikanjic & Vlak 2010; Feucht & Villalaín-Blanco 2002), the aim of this work is to present the case of a female, middle adult individual (33-42 years of age), dated in 533 ± 42 years 14C BP (AA102659) that shows an unilateral elongation of the styloid process -possibly compatible with Eagle syndrome- from Loteo 5 site, in the hills region of Cordoba province (Argentina). This is the first time the pathology is detected in an archaeological individual in Argentina. In particular, we are interested in a) describing the pathology, b) analyzing other lesions in the same individual, c) offering an integrated interpretation of the lesions, from an osteobiographic perspective, and d) estimating the possible consequences that this pathology could have had for the lifestyle of the individual, as well as the daily activities that could have been performed, by considering the archaeological context and the subsistence strategies of ancient populations.