Studios in Archaeological Science Consulting editor G. W. Dwaeny Other titles in the Series The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites RE CHAPLIN Land Snails in Archaeology 1:6, EVANS Methods of Physical Examination in Archaeology Ms me Ancient Skins, Parchments and Leathers Soil Science and Archaeology Fish Remains in Archaeology Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy ©. NARAIS Animal Diseases in Archaeology J: BAKER and D. BROTHWELL Animal Diseases in Archaeology J. BAKER Department of Veterinary Pathology University of Liverpool, England D. Brothwell Institute of Archaeology London, England 1980 ACADEMIC PRESS A Subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO SYDNEY SAN FRANCISCOACADEMIC PRESS ING. (LONDON) LTD. 24/28 Oval Road London NWI 7DX United States Edition published by ACADEMIC PRESS INC. r 111 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 100034, UNIWeKSTY OF CHicAGO UBRARY Copyright © 1980 by ACADEMIC PRESS INC. (LONDON) LTD, Al Rights Reseroed No part ofthis book may be reproduced in any form by photostat, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publishers British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Baker, John Rendle Animal diseases in archaeology. ‘Studies in archaeological science) I. Animal remains (Archaeology 2, Veterinary medicine I. Title II. Brothwell, Don Reginald ILL, Series 636.089 CC79,5.45 79-42813 ISBN 0-12-074150-4 Filmset by Willmer Bros. Lid., Birkenhead Printed in Great Britain by Fletcher & Son Ltd., Norwich Preface This book arose from an almost chance meeting between an archaeologist swith an interest in bones and their diseases, and a veterinary pathologist ‘with an interest in archaeology: it is hoped that the resultant tex fusion of their ideas on animal diseases in antiquity In recent years archaeologists have been taking an increasing interest in the bones and organic remains of vertebrates, mainly from the point of view of which animals were kept or hunted, with the reports on this material largely, although not exclusively, related to the numbers of animals and their relative importance in the diet of prehistoric and historic man, The authors consider that there is considerable potential for assembling additional information from the study of abnormalities in bone and other tissues. It could provide information, not only on the history of disease, but also on the way in which animals were kept, what they were used for and what man’s attitudes to his animals were. ‘This is only potential because there has been little study of animal diseases in archaeology, at least by comparison with human disease. Indeed, many otherwise excellent bone reports fail to mention pathology at all, although pathology must, undoubtedly, often have been present. The authors aim to draw attention to animal pathology in the archaeological field, and to compare modern and ancient disease. They are unable to go into great detail about the inferences which may be drawn fromit, and indeed, until a great deal more pathology is published in excavation reports and elsewhere it will not be possible to do thisin any systematic way. However, the study of ancient disease does present the promise of adding another facct to the expanding field of environmental archaeology. March 1980 Jobn R. Baker Don R. Brothwelltranslated various Spanish and French veterinary texts. Rosa Baker, Heather Brothwell and Dr. Ken Thomas have read all or parts of the book and made useful comments to the benefit of the text Last but_not Teast we would like to thank Academic Press, and especially Mr Arthur Bourne, for encouragement. Finally, Professor Geoflrey Dimbleby has had the thankless task of passing an editorial eye over all the text Contents Preface Acknowledgements 1, Introduction 2. Interpreting Mortality 3. The Natural History of Disease 4. Abnormalities of Skeletal Development Diseases of the Immature Skeleton Inflammation, Lafevtion aud Nectusis of Bone ‘Traumatic Injury Neoplasia Arthropathy: Diseases of Joints 10, Oral Pathology 11, Miscellaneous Bone Diseases 12, Non-skeletal Evidence of Disease 13. A Final Discussion and Some Conclusions Key references References Glossary Index u 20 32 43 63 82 96. 107 135 16 173 189 208, 208 23 299