Icelandic woman’s face was ravaged by SYPHILIS 500 years ago
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A woman who lived in Iceland 500 years ago suffered from a severe form of syphilis, a new study has revealed.
While the sexually-transmitted disease can now be treated with antibiotics, in the 16th century it could be a death sentence.
An artist has reconstructed what the woman may have looked like before she died, with painful-looking sores running across her face and a deep gash in her forehead.
This is because one of the symptoms of the bacterial infection at its latest stage is bone erosion, which commonly occurs on the skull.
An artist has reconstructed what the woman may have looked like before she died, with painful-looking sores running across her face and a deep gash in her forehead
The woman is thought to have been between 25 and 30 years old when she died, and while the cause is not known, it could have been related to her severe treponemal disease
The model reflects ‘the most brutal aspects of a treponemal disease’, according to the researchers.
The skull itself was excavated from a cemetery at the Skriðuklaustur monastery between 2002 and 2012, and is currently held at the National Museum of Iceland.
It is covered in bone lesions typical of tertiary syphilis, which occurs between three and 15 years after it is originally contracted.
The woman is thought to have been between 25 and 30 years old when she died, and while the cause of her death is not known, it could have been related to her severe treponemal disease.
Analysis of the skull by the Northern Heritage Network indicates that she suffered with a joint disease like arthritis, and dental enamel hypoplasia.
The latter manifests as thin or absent tooth enamel, resulting in grooves on the tooth surface, and indicates malnutrition or other health problems, including syphilis.
When the woman was alive, common treatments of the venereal infection in Europe included using the bark from Guaiacum sanctum, or holywood, which is a herbal anti-inflammatory.
Doctors also used Root of China as an oral medicine, rubbed the wounds with mercury or exposed them to its vapour.
The goal of mercury treatment was to cause the patient to salivate to expel the disease, and sweat baths and blood-letting were performed for a similar result.
Unfortunately, none of these methods were effective, meaning individuals with the disease would often suffer with facial disfigurements, including nasal collapse.
Surgeons would use flaps of skin from the arm to perform reconstructions, which would involve the patient having their arm sewn to their face for weeks before blood vessels grew on the new skin, allowing for it to be detached.
The skull itself was excavated from a cemetery at the Skriðuklaustur monastery between 2002 and 2012, and is currently held by the National Museum of Iceland
Mr Moraes initially reconstructed her lower jaw, which was missing from the model, before using her complete skull to apply virtual tissues
The designer also studied the skulls of other European women around the same age and used data from a digitised donor to create the full face
Brazilian designer Cícero Moraes came across the disfigured skull and was moved by her cranial lesions.
He decided to reconstruct her face using the 3D model uploaded by the Northern Heritage Network, and published his results in the open-access journal Figshare.
Mr Moraes initially reconstructed her lower jaw, which was missing from the model, before using her complete skull to apply virtual tissues.
The designer also studied the skulls of other European, American and ancient Egyptian women from archaeological excavations, and used data from a digitised donor to create the full face.
The final image is in colour, with blonde hair and pale blue eyes, which were chosen by the artists to make the image more powerful.
It provides a ‘vision of how syphilis can become something very serious if not properly treated’, the researchers wrote.
They hope the processes they used may help create preventative materials for public health bodies.