DOI article:
Derry, Douglas Erith: Anatomical report (B)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18103#0035
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in front of the coronal suture and 40 millimetres behind it, its total
length being thus 60 millimetres. The greatest breadth was 27 milli-
metres. The most suspicious fact in regard to this condition was the
occurrence at each posterior corner of the hole of a slight slit, such as
might have been produced by a sharp instrument.
A male body (probably Egyptian) showed very marked dorsal and
lumbar spondylitis. Six of the dorsal vertebra? were fused together
as the result of the disease, and all the pelvic bones were ankylosed.
The same body exhibited a healed fracture at the lower third of the
right ulna.
Cemetery 55.
Only thirteen of the 1,500 bodies buried in this early Christian
cemetery have been examined. The graveyard is situated at Gennari,
but on lower ground and nearer the river than Cemetery 58.
The few bodies examined presented features in many respects
resembling the Egyptian type, but the appearance of marked visible
prognathism in some cases made the diagnosis uncertain. It is possible
that this cemetery will be more thoroughly investigated later on.
Amongst the bodies examined in this cemetery was the skeleton of a
boy of about 16 years. The bones were well formed and of large size,
but the skull presented a very remarkable appearance. The forehead
rose vertically (almost on the same plane as the face) to a great height,
so that the distance from the nasion to top of the forehead was greater
than from nasion to alveolar point. Apparently there had either never
been a coronal suture, or it had closed so early that already at this
early age no sign of it whatever is visible. As the result, the frontal
bone is only slightly developed, and consists of a' vertical plate extend-
ing as far as the anterior end of the sagittal suture. Above the supra-
orbital ridges, there is a deep groove extending right across from one
temporal ridge to the other. From the bregma (or what ought to be its
position) the skull falls rapidly away posteriorly until the lambda is
reached, when a very marked bulging in the occipital region, associated
with large Wormian bones and an extraordinary exaggeration of the
ordinary lambdoid serrations, is encountered. There is much forward
sloping of the face, with great length from nasal spine to alveolar
margin, and this, coupled with considerable depth of symphysis, adds
in front of the coronal suture and 40 millimetres behind it, its total
length being thus 60 millimetres. The greatest breadth was 27 milli-
metres. The most suspicious fact in regard to this condition was the
occurrence at each posterior corner of the hole of a slight slit, such as
might have been produced by a sharp instrument.
A male body (probably Egyptian) showed very marked dorsal and
lumbar spondylitis. Six of the dorsal vertebra? were fused together
as the result of the disease, and all the pelvic bones were ankylosed.
The same body exhibited a healed fracture at the lower third of the
right ulna.
Cemetery 55.
Only thirteen of the 1,500 bodies buried in this early Christian
cemetery have been examined. The graveyard is situated at Gennari,
but on lower ground and nearer the river than Cemetery 58.
The few bodies examined presented features in many respects
resembling the Egyptian type, but the appearance of marked visible
prognathism in some cases made the diagnosis uncertain. It is possible
that this cemetery will be more thoroughly investigated later on.
Amongst the bodies examined in this cemetery was the skeleton of a
boy of about 16 years. The bones were well formed and of large size,
but the skull presented a very remarkable appearance. The forehead
rose vertically (almost on the same plane as the face) to a great height,
so that the distance from the nasion to top of the forehead was greater
than from nasion to alveolar point. Apparently there had either never
been a coronal suture, or it had closed so early that already at this
early age no sign of it whatever is visible. As the result, the frontal
bone is only slightly developed, and consists of a' vertical plate extend-
ing as far as the anterior end of the sagittal suture. Above the supra-
orbital ridges, there is a deep groove extending right across from one
temporal ridge to the other. From the bregma (or what ought to be its
position) the skull falls rapidly away posteriorly until the lambda is
reached, when a very marked bulging in the occipital region, associated
with large Wormian bones and an extraordinary exaggeration of the
ordinary lambdoid serrations, is encountered. There is much forward
sloping of the face, with great length from nasal spine to alveolar
margin, and this, coupled with considerable depth of symphysis, adds