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w٥ll. 'Ihe cstahblishmenl o‫ ﺃ‬permanent agricultural etle١e١I8٠ often associate
with irrigation a١d water ١‫؟‬pplsyystcms, prCsc١1 ١ host of ١ew challenges to human
groups during the transition. Calcgories of infcctious disease that prolably wcre of
minimal concern ١o our hnting and gathcring anccstors had the potential of
hpccomingmajor causes of sickness and dcath. Irrigation, lor camplc, brouglt witl
i‫ ﺍ‬watcr-associatcl discases such as schistosomiasis, 'his is a discase, causcd by a
parasite, in which the intermcdiatc host is a snail living in lssociation witl s‫ﺍ‬rcans
and irrigation channcls. Schistosomiasis is still fairly common in many areas of the
world.

It is important to emphasive that most of thc acute, life-thrcatening diseases do
not affect the skeleton. Of the diseases that do affect the skcleton, sone may
threaten life, but many do not. Bonc diseases sucl as primary malignant bone
cancer and a bone marrow cancer called multiple myelona are rare but do cause
death. Both of these conditions may leave fairly typical patterns in the skeleton.
However, most of the diseases that affect the skeleton are less serious and are the
result of disease conditions which develop over months and years, and which may
contribute to death but are often not the direct cause of death.

Most of the diseases that do affect the human skeleton today, have been seen in
archaeological remains. (See ortner and Putschar 1981 for a comprehensive review
of human skeletal paleopathology). here are two broad categories of data on
disease that can be obtained from skeletal remains. he first of these is evidence of
disease in the form of various types of bone lesions that may be attributed to a
specific disease. he second is nonspecific evidence that is suggestive of illness but
is not indicative of the specific disease.

A fairly standard procedure in research on skeletal pathology is to obtain
estimates of the age-at-death of skeletons from a cemetery sample. With this data
one can develop a mortality profile for the sample and this, in return, provides
insight on the relative health of the group. For example, groups with an age profile
having high sub-adult mortality and early average age of death are not as healthy as
those with low sub-adult mortality and later age of adult death.

he authors have been involved in studies of archaeological material from the
Middle East for many years. he excavation of human skeletal remains from this
area of the world has provided additional time depth to our understanding of the
history of disease in a region which gave birth to western civiliation. As part of our
effort to reconstruct the biological history of human groups in the ancient Middle
East, we have identified several interesting cases of skeletal diseases.

he patricular focus of our research is in human groups living in the Bronze Age
(ca, 3100 to 1700 B.C.), a time associated with the efflorescence of city life, and
٠ thus, a time when human groups were confronting new conditions in the

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