Hyperostosis frontalis interna – A marker of social status? Evidence from the Bronze-Age “high society” of Qatna, Syria

Flohr, Stefan; Witzel, Carsten

doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2010.12.001

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A study of skulls belonging to the bronze era in Qatna, Syria, has revealed the presence of HFI in tombs of people belonging to the socioeconomically high class. The probability of an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and high-calorie intake could lead to metabolic imbalances leading to HFI, showing that social status can be an indicative marker for the disease [ 16 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna in a Dry Indian Human Skull: A Case Report

Banik¹,

Gaikwad²,

Deep³

2023

Cureus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna (HFI), a condition that has been sparsely explained till now, is a benign, asymptomatic, and irregular thickening of the endocranium of the frontal bone. It is found to be predominantly present in post-menopausal women during incidental X-ray or CT/MRI of the skull. The prevalence of HFI is documented in different populations, but in the Indian population, it is comparatively rare. Thus, we discuss a serendipitous finding of HFI in an Indian skull. This rare variation was noted in dry Indian human skulls. Gross features of the skull were noted, and it was an adult female skull. The area was decalcified, paraffin-embedded, and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin. The skull bone was also subjected to plain X-ray/CT investigation. The X-ray skull of 50+ year female type features in anteroposterior and lateral view showed widening of the diploic spaces 8-10 mm with ill-defined hyperdense areas in the frontal region. Changes in computed tomography were noted. HFI often has nonspecific and benign symptoms. However, in severe cases, widespread clinical implications starting from headache, motor aphasia, parkinsonism, and depression can occur, and thus we all should be aware of it.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna in a Dry Indian Human Skull: A Case Report

Banik¹,

Gaikwad²,

Deep³

2023

Cureus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…CT has been demonstrated to provide the most reliable and accurate method of detecting HFI since the structure of the bone expansion can be examined (Flohr & Witzel, ; May, Peled, Dar, Hay, et al, 2010; May, Peled, Dar, Cohen, et al, 2011; Rühli et al, ). One limitation to using CT scans is that VR (volume rendering) of the data may produce ‘false positives’, particularly of irregularities presenting themselves as Type A nodules (May, Peled, Dar, Abbas, et al, 2010; May, Peled, Dar, Hay, et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often in both archaeological and forensic contexts, the presence of HFI is used to infer or corroborate the sex and age of an individual since it is so frequently associated clinically with old aged females (see Devriendt et al, ; Lazer, ; May, Peled, Dar, Abbas, et al, 2011; Rösing et al, ). Within the broader paleopathological literature, the condition has received little attention beyond the reporting of sporadic, solitary cases, though there are a few noteworthy exceptions (see Barber, Watt, & Rogers, ; Flohr & Witzel, ; Hadju et al, ; Wilczak & Mulhern, ). As occurs within the clinical context, HFI is most often treated as an incidental finding to be interpreted on an individual basis, the limited understanding of its etiology providing little scope for inference at the population level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperostosis frontalis interna in female historic skeletal populations: Age, sex hormones and the impact of industrialization

Western

Bekvalac

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…В первом случае речь идет о маркере синдрома Морганьи -Стюарта -Мореля, причина развития которого в настоящее время однозначно не установлена, но обычно отождествляется с нарушениями организма метаболического и гормонального характера [Бужилова, Соколова, 2006;Flohr, Witzel, 2011].…”

Section: результатыunclassified

Revisiting Pathological Conditions on Artificially Deformed Skulls of the Middle Bronze Age from the Lower Volga region

Pererva¹

2023

MUAB

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction. The paper defines pathological conditions arguably developed as the result of the cranium deforming practices. Material and methods. One hundred and fifty-eight brain capsules dating back to the Middle Bronze Age were studied; 42 showed traces of artificial deformation. Comparison of the series of normal and deformed skulls was carried out on the basis of 21 signs identified. The author compared frequencies of pathological conditions between the deformed and non-deformed skulls using nonparametric Mann-Whitney and Pearson's Chi-square (χ2) tests. Thus, differences in the occurrence of traits in the two independent samples was assessed. Additionally, we tested the association between 14 features using Spearman's correlation coefficient (r-Spearman's). Results. As a result of the comparative analysis, it was possible to establish statistically significant differences in the series of adult individuals between the non-deformed and deformed skulls in three following categories: hyperostosis frontalis interna, external exostosis of the auditory canal and injuries of the cranial vault. The identified pathological conditions are prevalent on the skulls artificially deformed skulls. No significant differences were identified between the compared groups of children and adolescents. Conclusion. The absence of significant differences for most of the pathological conditions, such as the state of the dentition, growth processes, the development of intracranial hypertension, inflammatory processes and mechanisms that cause metabolic disorders, indicates that artificial deformation does not have a significant effect on the development of the pathology of this character. On the contrary, hyperostosis frontalis interna is a pathological condition that may have been stimulated by the impact of artificial deformation. The high incidence of external exostoses of the auditory canal and injuries on the deformed skulls are most likely markers of the social or ethnic affiliation of the population that practiced this custom. It should be stated that, intentional artificial deformation of the cranium is quite compatible with a normal health state and human activity.

show abstract

Hyperostosis frontalis interna – A marker of social status? Evidence from the Bronze-Age “high society” of Qatna, Syria

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna in a Dry Indian Human Skull: A Case Report

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna in a Dry Indian Human Skull: A Case Report

Hyperostosis frontalis interna in female historic skeletal populations: Age, sex hormones and the impact of industrialization

Revisiting Pathological Conditions on Artificially Deformed Skulls of the Middle Bronze Age from the Lower Volga region

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About