C2-C3 block vertebrae in a late Neolithic/Chalcolithic child exhumed from a Portuguese collective grave

摘要

Among the commingled and very fragmentary human remains exhumed from the prehistoric tumulus of Praia da Samarra (Sintra, Portugal) a fusion of the second and third cervical vertebrae in a subadult individual was detected. The more likely diagnosis for this abnormality is a congenital osseous malformation of the spine. A possible case of dens axis hypoplasia was also suggested. Besides the description of the case, potential pathological implications and differential diagnosis were investigated.