Klippel Feil syndrome and other somatic developmental defects in Pampean Late Holocene hunter gatherers. Biological and social interpretations.

LUNA, LEANDRO; ARANDA, CLAUDIA; BERÓN, MÓNICA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; VI Paleopathological Association Meeting in South America (PAMinSA); 2015

Congenital defects can be inherited or acquired and are the result of alterationsin embryonic body development because of genetic modifications or theaction of pathogens in utero. They can be observed at birth or during the somaticgrowth and development period (Barnes 1994; Aufderheide and RodríguezMartín 1998). While the diversity of the syndromes described in the medicalliterature is large, its prevalence is very low, which affects their scarce visibilityin the worldwide bioarchaeological record. Therefore, the detailed paleopathologicalanalysis and diagnosis has important implications for the bioculturalcharacterization. From a social point of view, it provides relevant informationon the possible existence of endogamic structures and shows behaviors regardingthe acceptance of individuals with diminished physical capacities withinthe social network.The paleopathological analysis of a juvenile male from burial 29 in ChenqueI site, a hunter-gatherer cemetery located in Lihue Calel National Park (LaPampa, Argentina) is presented. This individual shows multiple malformationsin the axial skeleton, involving the skull, vertebrae, ribs and sternum. The characteristicsof the defects are: 1) morphological alteration of the base of theskull and facial area; 2) fusion and deformation of segments of the cervical anddorsal vertebrae; 3) malformation and rib fusion; 4) morphological alterationsin the sternum.These skeletal changes supports a case of Klippel Feil Syndrome, which isgenerally associated with dysfunctions resulting from other structural alterationsin soft tissues that can cause deafness, heart defects, pulmonary deficiency,mental impairment and scoliosis (e.g., Blanco and Schmitzler 1986; Guptaand Dubey 2002; Franzen et al. 2003), often compromising life expectancy.In general, individuals with these defects tend not to live beyond young adulthood.The individual analyzed was buried in a multiple burial containing theremains of 17 other people, mostly juvenile and young adult males, associatedwith 42 projectile points, direct evidence of the cause of death. According toethnohistorical chronicles, this burial could be the result of a planned war orweichan (in mapundungun), and their members would correspond to a group ofmen engaged in warlike activities (Berón 2014). In this context, the presenceof an individual with this pathological condition among a group of warriors orcona, acquires a particular dimension.