Pseudopathological vertebral changes in a young individual from Herculaneum (79 C.E.)

Post mortem abnormal modification of bone are known as pseudopathologies. The geochemical characteristic of the burial soil and/or the presence of biological agents may produce marked changes in bone preservation. This could be the case for a young individual, E74, from Herculaneum, which was a Roman town near Naples completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. E74 is an incomplete skeleton of a male individual of 7-8 years of age. Its second and third cervical vertebrae, the eighth thoracic vertebra and the first lumbar vertebra show a septum dividing the vertebral foramen. This condition could be diagnosed as diastematomyelia that consists of the splitting of th…