Dear Terry,
I think that you are right about that. That is why I didn't use the term
myself. The fusion of various vertebrae in a horse spine (sometimes only 2
vertebrae and sometimes many more) does occur and it is very interesting.
It may be related to the use of the horse as a work animal, but it may have
other causes. Calling it 'ankylosing spondylitis' suggests that we know
more about it than we really do.
Marsha
On Aug 17 2005, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>Stephanie's email has opened up a real problem area in animal
>palaeopathology, namely the tendency to apply terms from human
>palaeopath to conditions in other species that APPEAR to present the
>same clinical signs. Ankylosing spondylitis is a quite specific
>pathology of the human skeleton, with a particular aetiology. We may see
>a similar ankylosis in other species, but really shouldn't be applying
>the 'human' terms simply on the basis of similar appearance. That, of
>course, begs the question as to what terminology we should use. What do
>others think?
>
>Terry
>
>***********************************
>Prof Terry O'Connor
>Department of Archaeology
>University of York
>Kings Manor
>York YO1 7EP
> http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/staff/OConnor.htm
>Editor, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
>http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5488
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Marsha Levine
>Sent: 17 August 2005 17:09
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] Ankylosing Spondylitis
>
>
>Theo de Jong studied a number of Medieval horse skeletons from Eindhoven
>
>with this sort of condition. The fusion of the vertebrae was very
>extensive. I don't know where/if he has published this material.
>
>Regards,
>Marsha Levine
>
>On Aug 17 2005, Erik Filean wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>In a message dated 8/17/2005 7:30:53 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
>>[log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>> As part of a course on human palaeopathology I ran into a condition
>> called Ankylosing Spondylitis. I believe this has been referred to
>from
>> time to time in animal palaeopathology as well, however the aetiology
>of
>> the condition in humans was believed to be associated with the tissue
>> HLA-B27. There was some debate about whether such a tissue is also
>found
>> in animals and thus, should we be using this terminology for
>conditions
>> in animals? The term is often equated with 'bamboo spine', a
>description
>> also used to describe the ankylosis of the vertebrae in humans, but is
>it
>> truly the same condition or not? Does anyone have any ideas?
>>
>>
>>
>> This is a tough question to answer, because it appears that there is
>> no
>> consensus as to the cause of the condition in some animals. A few
>months
>> ago, I had posted here about a case of ankylosing spondylitis in L5-L6
>of
>> a 10-year-old male horse from Roman Nijmegen; the responses were
>> informative, but not conclusive. In horses, it appears that many
>regard
>> ankylosing spondylitis as a pathology, albeit one that may appear more
>
>> frequently and in more advanced states in riding animals or riding
>> breeds. Melanie Wilson did point out, though, that the condition may
>> serve to reinforce the rear of the spine and has been considered
>> desirable in certain breeds of Spanish military horse and their modern
>
>> descendants.
>>
>> I've more recently seen another case of ankylosing spondylitis of
>> L5-L6
>> in a modern male horse donated to our comparative collection
>(University
>> of Iowa). I don't know the breed, but the veterinarian who provided it
>
>> works with many show horses, so it was very possibly another riding
>> animal. The animal was comparatively young, though; the mandibular
>> canines were erupting at the time of death.
>>
>>In case they're of any use, here are some archaeological and veterinary
>>references for horses:
>>
>>
>> BARTOSIEWICZ, LASZLO, AND BARTOSIEWICZ, GABOR. 2002. "Bamboo spine" in
>
>> a
>> migration period horse from Hungary. Journal of Archaeological Science
>
>> 29: 819-30. JEFFCOT, L. B. 1978. Disorders of the equine thoracolumbar
>
>> spine - a review. Journal of Equine Medicine and Surgery 2: 9-19.
>> JEFFCOT, L. B. 1979. Back problems in the horse - a look at past,
>present
>> and future progress. Equine Veterinary Journal 3: 129-36. JEFFCOT, L.
>B.
>> 1980. Disorders of the thoracolumbar spine of the horse - a survey of
>443
>> cases. Equine Veterinary Journal 12: 197-210. JEFFCOT, L. B., AND
>DALIN,
>> G. 1980. Natural rigidity of the horse's backbone. Equine Veterinary
>> Journal 12: 101-8. STECHER, R. M. 1961. Ankylosing lesions of the
>spine
>> of the horse. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
>138:
>> 248-55. TOWNSEND, H. G. G., AND LEACH, D. H. 1982. Relationship
>between
>> intervertebral joint morphology and mobility in the equine
>thoracolumbar
>> spine. Equine Veterinary Journal 16: 461-65. Best, Erik
>>
>>
>>"...and those that would not bond with us, we ate."
>>- Harry, Third Rock from the Sun -
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
--
Dr. Marsha Levine, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, England
phone: +44 (0)1223-339347 / fax: +44 (0)1223-339285
http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~ml12/
|