Congenital syphilis or mercury treatment: dental alterations in a twelfth- or thirteenth-century child from Medinaceli, Soria, Spain
- 1 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Schweizerbart in HOMO
- Vol. 71 (1), 51-61
- https://doi.org/10.1127/homo/2020/1173
Abstract
Syphilis, together with its variant congenital syphilis, is a disease caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum. This paper documents possible new skeletal evidence for congenital syphilis from the Medieval Era (twelfth and thirteenth centuries CE) burial site of Medinaceli in the Province of Soria in North-Central Spain. What is involved is dental alteration due to congenital syphilis, mercury treatment, or a combination of both. This study focuses on the hypoplastic dental changes observed in a child approximately eight years of age. Only a fragmented skull with left maxilla and the left side of the mandible were preserved. Macroscopic analysis, X-rays, computerized tomography (CT) and mercury detection analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques were used to observe dental abnormalities. In addition to extensive caries in the upper second deciduous molar, pulpo-alveolar lesions and facial alterations were observed. The absence of the rest of the skeleton tends to make a diagnosis of congenital syphilis difficult. However, the dental stigmata observed do permit a reasonable diagnosis.This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Science Behind Pre‐Columbian Evidence of Syphilis in Europe: Research by DocumentaryEvolutionary Anthropology, 2012
- Human skeletal paleopathologyInternational Journal of Paleopathology, 2011
- The origin and antiquity of syphilis revisited: An Appraisal of Old World pre‐Columbian evidence for treponemal infectionAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2011
- A possible case of treponemal disease from England dating to the 11th–12th century ADInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2010
- Brief communication: The London atlas of human tooth development and eruptionAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2010
- Dental evidence of congenital syphilis in a 19th century cemetery from the mid-hudson valleyInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2010
- Syphilis at the Crossroad of Phylogenetics and PaleopathologyPLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2010
- Association between Enamel Hypoplasia and Dental Caries in Primary Second Molars: A Cohort StudyCaries Research, 2009
- Mercury levels in Danish Medieval human bonesJournal of Archaeological Science, 2008
- A pre-Columbian case of congenital syphilis from Anatolia (Nicaea, 13th century AD)International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2005