Blue Bridge Lane
&
Fishergate House
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Arachnoid granulations are small, well-defined depressions on the inner (endocranial surface) of the skull. They tend to cluster at the frontal and parietal, especially at the border between the three skull parts (Mann and Murphy 1990, 26). They are common in all populations and have a tendency to increase in number and depth with advancing age; older females tend to be most affected, especially following menopause. The cause for the formation of arachnoid granulations is not yet understood.
Twelve individuals (4.9%) from Fishergate House had evidence for arachnoid granulations. The majority of these individuals were mature adults and old middle adults, but unusually, a young adult male and three young middle adults were also affected. Eight individuals with arachnoid granulations were female (15.1% of females), while the remainder were male (7% of males).
In occurrences of trabecular bone, filling medullary cavities, the cavity, which normally contains the bone marrow, was filled with trabecular (spongy) bone. This is normally restricted to the long bone ends, near the joints. It was possible to identify this condition only in those long bones which were broken and in which the medullary cavity was visible. It is probable, therefore, that the number of bones affected was underestimated.
Five individuals (2%), including three males, one adolescent and one juvenile, exhibited this anomaly in their long bones. In two individuals (C1269, C1547), all broken long bones were filled with trabecular bone, whereas the other three individuals exhibited evidence for spongy bone formation in only some of the bones. It is possible that these individuals were suffering from osteitis (infection of the cortical bone), but considering that the long bones were affected bilaterally, and no bone surface changes were observed, this is unlikely. The cause for this condition is not fully understood.
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