Epidemiological aspects of paleopathology in 

 Denmark: Past, present, and future studies 



Pia Bennike 



r aleopathological studies have been carried out in Denmaric 

 throughout the last hundred years, and with a few exceptions, 

 the developmental stages do not seem to differ much from the 

 general history of paleopathology known in other countries. 

 The three stages are: the descriptive stage, the epidemiologi- 

 cal stage , and the analytical stage . The number and subject of 

 the studies within each stage may vary considerably, depen- 

 dent on the time and the traditions of the geographical area. 



Some of the early Danish studies of epidemiological 

 character have obtained international interest. This is due to 

 several factors, one of them being the long archeological 

 tradition in Denmark resulting in a well-documented skeletal 

 collection with reliable datings. In large parts of Denmark the 

 soil contents provide extremely good conditions for the pres- 

 ervation of bones, and many Danish skeletons and bog 

 bodies have been known to a wide audience, owing to the 

 many details which could be studied. The size and the rela- 

 tive homogeneity of the Danish population is also very suita- 

 ble for studies of epidemiological aspects. Finally, an impor- 

 tant factor is the role of the investigator, which must not be 

 forgotten. 



In the following pages, we give a short presentation of the 

 more important Danish studies dealing with paleopathology 

 from past and present. Together they show the development, 

 but also the restrictions, of this topic in Denmark over the 

 years. We then discuss the results of the different studies in 

 relation to the planning of future projects. 



Past 



As paleopathological studies in Denmark are mainly depen- 

 dent on remains of human bones, the history can naturally not 

 be traced farther back than to the establishment of the skeletal 

 collection. 



In an 1837 publication the Danish scientist Eschricht re- 

 quested that more skeletal material be preserved during ex- 

 cavations. At that time the number of prehistoric skulls could 

 be counted on the fingers of one hand. Eschricht's interest in 

 acquiring more skeletal material was based on his wish to test 

 certain theories concerning the Danish prehistoric popula- 

 140 



tion. Several scientists had proposed that the ancestors of the 

 Scandinavian people may have been either Eskimos or per- 

 haps Lapps, and this hypothesis could only be tested by 

 studying a larger number of skulls (Nilsson 1838; Eschricht 

 1 84 1 ). The theories were based on a study of very few skulls 

 with some eskimoid traits, but later studies showed that those 

 traits were not common in most skulls and may be considered 

 as an isolated variation. It also demonstrates that the smaller 

 the volume of material studied, the easier it is to draw con- 

 clusions. This is the case in studies of both physical an- 

 thropology and paleopathology. Whether the subsequent in- 

 crease in the number of recovered prehistoric skulls was due 

 to Eschricht's request or was a natural result of the devel- 

 oping scientific interest in anthropology at the time is not 

 known. 



By the time the German professor Virchow in 1870 visited 

 Copenhagen to study the Danish Neolithic population, more 

 than 50 skulls were available (Virchow 1870). As most scien- 

 tists of that time, Virchow focused on questions of normal 

 variation and racial types and not on pathological conditions, 

 but from that time on skeletal material was available for 

 paleopathological studies. The studies of the period on paleo- 

 pathological aspects were, however, few and the topics were 

 mostly restricted to mere descriptions, often of lesions, in- 

 fections or trepanations on single finds (Engelhardt 1877; 

 Hansen 1889,1913; Kjaer 1912; Nielsen 1911). 



At an international conference in France in 1867 Broca 

 demonstrated that traces on a Peruvian skull, previously in- 

 terpreted as a lesion caused by a wound, were probably due to 

 treatment, the so-called trepanation (Broca 1867). It is not 

 difficult to imagine how exciting it must have been to the 

 participants of that conference to look for similar cases in 

 their "own" collections after their return. Several studies on 

 trepanation were published in the years shortly after Broca's 

 presentation , showing that at least some of his colleagues had 

 success in "discovering" skulls with evidence of trepanation 

 (Hansen 1889,1913; Nielsen 1911). 



Toward the end of the last century, a tradition of sending 

 skeletal material from excavations to the Institute of Anat- 

 omy in Copenhagen was established. Usually the old bones 



Zagreb Paleopathology Symp 1988 



