Cribra Orbitalia: a possible sign of anaemia in pre- and post-contact crania from Australia and Papua New Guinea

Steve Webb, Australian National University

Abstract

Extract:

Cribra orbitalia is a bone condition characterized by one or several clusters of small openings in the anterior and/or antero-lateral portions of the orbital plate of the frontal bone. Reference to it in the anatomical literature is rare, often inaccurate and cursory at best. Works on bone pathology ignore it altogether, perhaps because cribra orbitalia reflects no recognizable morphological or behavioural symptoms or is not seen to be associated with pathologies diagnosed by other criteria. It has been suggested that it does not occur in modem populations and therefore does not arise in pathology in the modern context. It is physical or biological anthropologists, dealing with ancient skeletal populations, who have been most responsible for drawing attention to the phenomenon.