Specimen Background
This specimen was discovered in Alington Avenue Cemetery, near Dorchester, Dorset. The subject is a female from the second or third century AD and has been aged 18-20 at the time of death.
The skeleton, shown in the figure below, was found almost complete. The subject had been buried in a trapezoidal wooden coffin, with the head at SW, arms flexed, hands over pelvis and hobnailed footwear.
Peculiar features
As can be seen from the figure on the right, the specimen’s tibia and femur are considerably smaller than the typical size, which indicates that the individual was affected by mesomelic dwarfism. It has been estimated that she was 1.23m high, 35cm less than the female cemetery mean. Therefore, dwarfing would have become clearly visible to local community once she reached puberty.
Other pathologies affecting the specimen are: spondylolysis, Schmorl’s nodes, cribra orbitalia & extensive dental pathology (including congenital absence of mandibular canines) .