A human skeleton recovered from a Sicilian archaeological site and dating from the Hellenistic period (330-210 B.c.) presents a pathological pattern suggesting a transition between ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis, providing evidence in support of the hypothesis that rheumatoid arthritis may have recently evolved out of ankylosing spondylitis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a generalized inflammatory disease of the connective tissues which affects not only joints, but also can attack tendon sheaths, bursae, and other soft tissues. It is currently a very prevalent disease which, according to conservative estimates, afflicts up to 2% of the adult population (Redford, '69). Curiously, however, convincing evidence of the disease is lacking in the paleopathological literature (Bourke, '67; Short, '74) leading Short ('74) t o hypothesize that the disease, as we know it, may be of recent origin. A human skeleton of the Hellenistic period (330-210 B.c.) from Sicily may provide evidence relating to the history and evolution of arthritic diseases.
The skeleton in question is one of two Hellenistic skeletons preserved from the archaeological site of Morgantina, located in Enna province, commune di Aidone, frazione Serra Orlando, map co-ordinate: I G M Fogho 269, NW 111, latitude 37"25'50" N, longitude 2"1'37" E. The affected skeleton, from Epytymbion V, area 11, trench 4B extension (Sjoquist, '601, is uncatalogued and temporarily housed in a storehouse in Aidone. The other Hellenistic skeleton appears normal.
The affected Hellenistic skeleton presents a pattern of articular disease atypical of any found in either a modern clinical setting or in the paleopathology literature. A combination of traits suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis is particularly baffling unless one considers Short's ('74) hypothesis on the evolution of rheumatoid arthritis. Short argues that a search of early