The auricular surface is located on the os coxae (pelvis) and forms part of the sacro-iliac joint. Changes in appearance of the auricular surface have been used to estimate adult age-at-death. Two main methods are used in bioarcheology: the Lovejoy method and the Buckberry-Chamberlain (revised auricular surface) method. As with many age estimation methods, neither auricular surface method reaches the gold standard of being both accurate and precise, however the age-related changes of the auricular surface do extend into the later decades of life.

Corsets have been used both to create a fashionable silhouette and as an orthopaedic treatment for spinal conditions, but skeletal changes associated with the use of corsetry are rarely reported on in the palaeopathological literature. Here, we report on a 19th-century adult male with Pott’s disease of the vertebral column and related vertebral compression deformities, which probably result from the use of a corset. Wolverhampton HB40 presented destruction of the vertebral bodies of T6 to L4, ankylosis of the apophyseal joints of L1 and L2 and an angular kyphosis of the lumbar region, the result of tuberculosis. The presence of flattened spinous processes and bilateral acute angulation of multiple ribs in the lower thoracic region is indicative of plastic deformation caused by the use of the corset. The presence of both of these changes in an adult male, at a time when the use of cosmetic corsets by men was in decline, suggests that the compression trauma was the result of an orthopaedic corset used to correct the defective posture resulting from tubercular kyphosis, although corset use to obtain a fashionable silhouette cannot be ruled out.

Osteosarcoma is a rare type of malignant neoplasm that is most frequent in adolescents and young adults although it can develop at any age. It can metastasize from a primary site in bone to other bones and soft tissues. Usually the disorder causes a single bone-forming lesion (unicentric) but some cases have multicentric, bone-forming lesions. Some of these lesions develop at different sites at different times. In a second variant of multicentric osteosarcoma, synchronous bone-forming lesions develop at multiple sites. Distinguishing between these two types of multicentric osteosarcoma is challenging in a clinical context and the criteria for doing so are unlikely to be met in an archaeological burial. Wolverhampton burial HB 39 was excavated from an early-nineteenth century cemetery site in England. It consists of the incomplete skeleton of an adult male of at least 45 years of age with multicentric osteosarcoma. The individual represented by this burial also had diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). Three of the bone-forming lesions associated with osteosarcoma developed on the bony outgrowths related to DISH.

Context: Adult age-at-death is presented in a number of different ways by anthropologists. Ordinal categories predominate in osteoarchaeology, but do not reflect individual variation in ageing, with too many adults being classified as ‘middle adults’. In addition, mean ages (derived from reference samples) are overly-relied upon when developing and testing methods. In both cases, ‘age mimicry’ is not adequately accounted for. Objectives: To highlight the many inherent biases created when developing, testing and applying age-estimation methods without fully considering the impact of ‘age mimicry’ and individual variation. Methods: The paper draws on previously published research (Web of Science, Pub Med, Google Scholar) on age estimation methods and their use in anthropology. Results and Conclusions: There is a lack of consistency in the methods used to estimate age, and for the mode of combining them. Ordinal categories are frequently used in osteoarchaeology, whereas forensic anthropologists are more likely to produce case-specific age ranges. Mean ages reflect the age structure of reference samples, and should not be used to estimate age for individuals from populations with a different age-at-death structure. Individual-specific age ranges and/or probability densities should be used to report individual age. Further research should be undertaken on how to create unbiased, combined method age estimates.

Excavations in 1988 revealed a stratigraphic sequence extending from the later Roman period to the twelfth century. Of particular interest and importance is a collection of Viking-Age metalwork which, with other material, sheds light on settlement in Carlisle before the arrival of the Normans in 1092.

Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.