Paleopathology of Geridu’s medieval ossuary. A preliminary analysis

The medieval deserted village of Geridu, near Sorso, in the North Sardinia, is mentioned in historical sources from XIIth century and reached its maximum development during the XIVth century, when his population was about 1500 people. The village has been deserted before 1427, as the sources suggest, for several reasons, such as fiscal pressure, wars and pestilence. The village’s cemetery, near the church of Saint Andrews, was excavated in 1997-1998. The archaeologists dug 26 burials and discovered an hypogeic structure, most ancient, used in XIVth century as an ossuary. More than 90 cm of human remains were found, including some portions of skeletons in anatomical connection in the most ancient part of the ossuary. Therefore, archaeologists hypothesized the use of the structure also as a primary burial place for some individuals, especially for non-adults. In fact, the high presence of all subadult bones, found in the most ancient part of the ossuary, can suggest that some children were buried directly in the ossuary. Based on pottery found in ossuary’s obliteration the structure was closed definitively in the XVth century. The aim of the anthropological study was to determine the bioarchaeology of Geridu from the commingled bones from the ossuary. The osteological study focused on adults remains from the most recent part of the ossuary, separated from the first period of use by a layer of lime, and on several portion in connection found in the US 2812, the most ancient stratigraphical unit. Therefore, 180 commingled bones and 36 parts of individuals in connection has been analyzed. Paleopathological aspect seems to be very interesting; it confirms the results of individuals’ study from the cemetery burials, in addition to providing new data. The sample contained two cases of DISH, Diffuse Idiopatic Skeletal Hyperostosis, already found in Geridu, several bones affected by infectious diseases, such as a femur with pathological traces of osteomyelitis and a tibia with a probable case of Sclerosing osteomyelitis of Garré. Furthermore, a probable case of Osteosarcoma has been found, is an adult femur with extensive lithic lesions that have completely altered the proximal bone profile. For a better diagnosis the bones with traces of pathological lesions were analyzed with XR and Spiral CT scan by a team of Radiology from the University Hospital (A.O.U.) of Sassari. Despite the impossibility of a complete differential analysis, due to the absence of the rest of the skeleton, the hypotheses advanced seem to be confirmed by CT scan. The study, even if incomplete, shows that important information can also be obtained from contexts such as ossuaries, which give a general picture on the state of health of past populations.