Evidence of trauma in a ca. 1-million-year-old patella of Homo antecessor, Gran Dolina-Atapuerca (Spain)
We present the palaeopathological study of a left patella (ATD6-56) belonging to theEarly Pleistocene species Homo antecessor (Atapuerca-Gran Dolina, Spain). The abnormalmorphology observed in the inferior margin of the patella is an osseous overgrowth (osteo-phyte). Macroscopic and microscopic tech...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2016 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositorio: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/102268 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102268 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | 569.89 599.892.3 Osteophyte Trauma Paleopathology Patella Homo antecessor Ostéophyte Paléopathologie Rotule Paleontología 2416.05 Paleontología de Los Vertebrados |
| Sumario: | We present the palaeopathological study of a left patella (ATD6-56) belonging to theEarly Pleistocene species Homo antecessor (Atapuerca-Gran Dolina, Spain). The abnormalmorphology observed in the inferior margin of the patella is an osseous overgrowth (osteo-phyte). Macroscopic and microscopic techniques, including microtomography and zoomstereomicroscope, were used to describe the lesion. Externally, the osteophyte has a smoothand porous texture; the boundary between the more radiolucent osteophyte and the nor-mal bone can be identified in X-ray images. We suggest that the observed signs could besecondary to a local trauma. The lesion would have involved either the bone or related softtissues of the left limb, possibly affecting the stability of the joint. Consequently, the indi-vidual’s knee would have suffered an abnormal mechanical load that could have eventuallytriggered osteoarthritic changes. This is also supported by the lack of changes observed inthe associated right patella (ATD6-22). |
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