Anatomical and radiological notes on the sternum of Sicily’s earliest known woman (San Teodoro Cave, Messina, Palaeolithic Period, 14,500 BP)

Abstract

In this brief anatomical and palaeopathological communication the authors detail the characteristics and alterations noted on the sternal body and xiphoid process of ST1, Sicily’s earliest known female skeleton, dated to the Palaeolithic Period (14,500 years BP). A morphological and radiological analysis is offered both in terms of the relation between age and manifestation of the xiphisternal fusion, with a focus on ancient traumatology involving the soft tissues near the sternum to explain calcification of xiphoid and, more likely, the local presence of an exostosis.