II. History and General Description of the Aebelholt Skeletons

Møller-Christensen, Vilh.

doi:10.1159/000142251

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“…The excavation at AEbelholt Monastery revealed 760 skeletons, and in his studies Møller-Christensen (1958) mainly focused on the pathology. The cemetery was used from 1175 to 1536 and the skeletons of 625 adults and 135…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it must not be forgotten that the medieval period in Denmark only ended in 1536, some 53 years after the return of Columbus and his crew to Europe in 1493. It therefore would be expected that some skeletons affected with treponematosis would be found in medieval cemeteries in both Sweden (Arcini, 1999) and Denmark (Møller-Christensen, 1958), and therefore also in the AEbelholt Monastery. In both countries the graves with the affected skeletons were among the latest burial sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there was no doubt that the skeleton was affected with a chronic disease, which he thought could be tuberculosis or rheumatoid arthritis. However, eventually he considered ergotism as the most probable diagnosis (Møller-Christensen, 1958), even though the literature was very sparse (Barger, 1931) and almost non-existent on possible bone changes caused by the disease. The skeleton is exhibited in the museum at AEbelholt and was recorded as an example of ergotism in 1957.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A case study of possible differential diagnoses of a medieval skeleton from Denmark: leprosy, ergotism, treponematosis, sarcoidosis or smallpox?

Lefort

Bennike

2007

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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This paper uses macroscopic and radiological examinations to provide differential diagnoses of pathological lesions in the skeleton of a young woman, 20-25 years of age, which triggered the Danish palaeopathologist Vilhelm Møller-Christensen's interest in leprosy. The skeleton was incomplete, but the majority of bones of the upper body, as well as the skull, were present. The pathological changes consisted of medullary and cortical lytic foci, periosteal reaction and enhanced cortical density. The lesions were most extensive on the left side, especially around the elbow, wrist and scapula. Treponematosis, leprosy, smallpox, ergotism, rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis and sarcoidosis are all reviewed with regard to bone and joint pathology and their likelihood of being the correct diagnosis. We concluded that the most plausible diagnosis is treponematosis, but neither sarcoidosis nor smallpox can be completely excluded.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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