Ankle lesions and shortening of the forearm on a female from the Roman city of Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain): consequences of an accidental traumatic episode during growth?

Abstract

In one Roman funerary area (1st-2nd centuries AD) of Augusta Emerita, an adult female skeleton was found, showing multiple healed trauma, being one the first evidences of this kind documented in the capital of Lusitania. This study describes those lesions, reconstructs the possible events responsible and hypothetical impact on the subject’s quality of life. Macroscopic and radiological observation revealed fractures of the left distal third of the radius and the ulnar styloid process, as well as of the distal third of the left fibula. Those of the forearm, caused a shortening of about one centimetre, probably resulting from a fall during growth. The fracture of the fibula would have occurred from an underfoot accident resulting also in a heterotopic ossification of the distal anterior ligament. Since both fractures are well consolidated and without degenerative articular lesions, this woman probably did not suffer significant sequelae thereafter.