Sardinian museum of anthropology and ethnography: a case of ankylosing spondylitis from Sardinia

The specimen presented here is part of the remains of several individuals recovered after a random discovery in ✟ ✠ ✡ ✝ ✟ ✠ ✡ ✆ in the collapsed natural dome near Su Sercone (Orgosolo, NU, central Sardinia, IT) by G. Cosseddu, then professor at the Institute of Anthropology, Cagliari University. It is a spinal cord fully fused, with bone production involving also a large part of the pelvis, which can be diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis. Only recently it was handled and prepared to allow its study. Materials and Methods Methods were those typically applied on macroscopic traits, both metric and non-metric (as in Martin and Saller, ✟ ✠ ✆ ✡ -☛ ☞ ). Identi! cation of pathology follows Ortner and Putschar ( ✟ ✠ ✌ ✆ ) and Aufderhide and Martin ( ✟ ✠ ✠ ✌ ), whereas stress markers were detected after Mariotti et al. ( ☞ ✞ ✞ ✡ ). A macroscopic examination has been carried out, with the analysis of the paleopathological conditions of the remain, and subsequently an X-ray completed the analysis. The specimen has then been investigated through x-rays at the “Laboratorio di Diagnostica per immagini” at the University’s Policlinico, in Monserrato. The specimen belongs to an individual of unknown age, since the diagnostic bone surfaces were altered by its pathological condition. In ✟ ✠ ✠ ☞ it was submitted for ✟ ✝ C analysis for absolute dating (Beta Analytics Inc., Miami, Florida). Its overall length is ✍ ✟ cm. Ankylosis affects the whole spinal cord, including the sacroiliac joints, presumably also in the left side. There is rib ossi! cation in in T ✟ and T☞ (Fig. ✟ ) and a remarkable scholiosis. Evident signs of an ante mortem fracture that leads to hypothesize fusion also in the atlas-occipital articulation. The ribs too were probably wholly fused to the rachis.