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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Prehistoric Eye Disease (Trachoma?) In Australian Aborigines, Steve Webb
Prehistoric Eye Disease (Trachoma?) In Australian Aborigines, Steve Webb
Steve Webb
This paper discusses an as yet undescribed lesion of the orbit in Australian Aboriginal skeletal populations. The rather high frequency and geographical distribution of the lesion suggests an association with a common, chronic eye infection. Using differential diagnosis to eleminate a variety of ophthalmic conditions, it is proposed that chronic trachoma may be a possible causative agent. Distribution of the lesion follows that of trachoma among contemporary Aboriginal people, with the highest frequencies occurring in the hotter, arid portions of the Australian continent. It is positively correlated with age, with higher frequencies in older people; it is almost completely absent …
Two Possible Cases Of Trephination From Australia, Steve Webb
Two Possible Cases Of Trephination From Australia, Steve Webb
Steve Webb
Cranial surgery has been performed for thousands of years among a wide range of cultures. Although the extent of its use has varied, ethnographically the operation has almost always been used as a form of medical treatment following cranial trauma or as a remedy for head pain. This paper describes two cases of cranial trauma on Australian Aboriginal remains from widely separated areas of the continent. The position and morphology of the trauma, as well as other associated features, suggest that these individuals underwent some form of surgical procedure. The features are similar to those found on accepted cases of …
A Congenital Meningocoele In Prehistoric Australia, Steve Webb, Alan Thorne
A Congenital Meningocoele In Prehistoric Australia, Steve Webb, Alan Thorne
Steve Webb
This report concerns a congenital meningocoele in a young adult Aboriginal female from north-western New South Wales, Australia. The fact that this individual reached adulthood throws new light on the attitude of these nomadic people towards such conditions. Evidence of this kind may prompt also a re-evaluation by prehistorians and anthropologists of the popularly held belief that all such malformations were automatically eliminated by infanticide. The discovery of this form of pathology helps provide new information not only on past cultural attitudes towards disease, but its frequency and geographical incidence, and adds to our knowledge concerning the range of pathological …