Paleopathological findings of dry skulls with plagiocephaly

Abstract

In literature, plagiocephaly is defined as abnormal asymmetrical head shape with unilateral flattening of the anterior and/or posterior part of the skull. It is classified as synostotic or deformational.

Synostotic plagiocephaly is the result of premature unilateral fusion of neurocranium sutures. Positional plagiocephaly is caused by asymmetrical intrauterine and/or postnatal external forces.

The authors report findings of both types of plagiocephaly in the dry skull collection from pertaining Broumov Ossuary (13-18 century), Czech Republic. In the paper, the incidence of paleopathological asymmetrical skull deformities is discussed in the context with recent clinical data.