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/