Paleopathological Analysis of Craniosynostosis (CS): Two Cases of Plagiocephaly from the Archaeological Site of Kayalıpınar, Sivas, Turkey

This article describes two individuals diagnosed with craniosynostosis. The archaeological human remains were uncovered from Kayal & imath;p & imath;nar excavations in Sivas's province in Turkey. The skeletons described here belong to the Byzantine period. Anterior plagiocephaly (unicoronal synostosis) observed in a female aged 30-34, and posterior plagiocephaly (unilambdoid synostosis) observed in a male aged 20-30. Both skulls show deformities due to synostosis. It is assumed that premature suture closure has no influence on the death of individuals. Craniosynostosis is a known case in clinical studies; however, its frequency in archaeological records/paleopathological literature is unclear. No example of craniosynostosis (especially plagiocephaly) has been found in ancient Anatolian populations, except for scaphocephaly. In conclusion, in addition to dental anomalies, bulging on the frontal bone and lambdoid suture fusion were found in this study, which provides a specific example and useful results for future research.