Internat J Osteoarchaeol 18 (1)

The relatively elusive nature of preserved human cells in fossilised tissues was recognised prior to the description of fossilised sickle cells; preserved neural cells were also noted in mummified brain tissues. Exceptional circumstances of preservation were used to explain these rare observations. In this study, dental calculus and endocranial putrefaction fluid were rehydrated for twelve hours in 0.4 M acetic acid solution at room temperature, smear stained with May-Grunwald-Giemsa and examined using light microscopy. Remnants of leucocytes, epithelial cells and other cells are presented and discussed.

The authors argue that, although back pain is a major contributor to disability and loss of productivity in modern populations, osteological correlates of back pain are often absent or, as yet, unidentified, and that, as bioarchaeologists depend on osteological evidence to interpret quality of life in the past, back pain is largely overlooked in archaeological samples. The study explorese the relationship between a defined vertebral osteological lesion, the Schmorl's node, and its effect on quality of life in a clinical population. Using patient insight, healthcare practitioner diagnoses and MR imaging analyses, this study investigates: (1) Schmorl's nodes and sociodemographic factors; (2) the number, location and quantitative aspects (e.g. length, depth, area) of Schmorl's nodes, and how these influence the reporting of pain; (3) the dynamic effects of Schmorl's nodes, in combination with other variables, in the reporting of pain; and (4) the perception and impact of pain that patients attribute to Schmorl's nodes with regard to quality-of-life issues. The results of the study indicate that Schmorl's nodes located in the central portion of the vertebral body are significantly associated with patient reporting of pain, and that the presence of osteophytes, in the affected vertebral region, may increase the likelihood that an individual will report pain. This finding provides bioarchaeologists with an osteological correlate to begin interpreting the presence and impact of pain in archaeological populations, with implications for scoring Schmorl's nodes.

It is argued that palaeozoological data are asymmetrical because they indicate the presence of a species in the area in which its remains are recovered, but the absence of remains is not necessarily evidence for the absence of a species. It is impossible to measure the magnitude of data asymmetry with respect to biogeography, but the magnitude can be estimated. The proportion of sites in an area where a species is known to occur that have not produced remains of that species is an estimate of counter-ubiquity. The proportion of identified faunal remains in an area where a species is known to occur that do not represent that species is another estimate of data asymmetry. Bivariate plots of the number of sites in an area that have produced remains of a taxon against the total number of faunal remains identified in the area indicate that data asymmetry can be estimated as the inverse of sample size. More sites and more identified faunal remains tend to produce more occurrences of a species, so more sites and more identified faunal remains will tend to provide a database that is not only more accurate but also less asymmetrical with respect to the geographical range of a species. North American data.