Richards G D
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1985 Nov;68(3):343-57. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330680305.
Microcephaly is a severe developmental abnormality which is induced either genetically or environmentally. The archaeological evidence for the occurrence of this abnormality is minimal. Out of six possible cases, only three have been published; all are adult and represented solely by cranial remains. The focus of the current study is the nearly complete skeleton of a 3-year-old child recovered during archaeological excavations in San Jose, California. The individual is compared to a sample of 184 California Indians, ranging from 0.5 to 5 years, which were also recovered from archaeological excavations. In order to determine if microcephaly was the only disorder represented, metrical comparisons of the skull and postcrania and gross morphological comparisons of endocranial casts were made. Based on these comparisons the individual was determined to have a cranial vault size comparable to 6-month-old infants (630 cc), a facial skeleton equivalent to the 9-month-old to 2-year-old age groups, and a reduced stature. Due to the mosaic nature of the skull, the observed morphology was interpreted in terms of functional cranial components. Severe malformation of the orbital aspect of the frontal lobes was found in conjunction with a significant reduction in size of the cerebral cortex and left temporal lobe. On the basis of this analysis, the individual was found to exhibit the total morphological pattern associated with microcephaly. A differential diagnosis of other possible genetic disorders is also presented.
小头畸形是一种严重的发育异常，可由遗传或环境因素诱发。关于这种异常情况发生的考古证据极少。在六个可能的案例中，仅有三个已发表；所有案例均为成年人，且仅以颅骨遗骸为代表。本研究的重点是在加利福尼亚州圣何塞的考古发掘中出土的一具近乎完整的3岁儿童骨骼。将该个体与从考古发掘中回收的184名年龄在0.5至5岁之间的加利福尼亚印第安人样本进行了比较。为了确定小头畸形是否是唯一表现出的病症，对头骨和后颅骨进行了测量比较，并对内颅铸型进行了大体形态比较。基于这些比较，确定该个体的颅顶大小与6个月大的婴儿相当（630立方厘米），面部骨骼与9个月至2岁年龄组相当，且身材矮小。由于颅骨的镶嵌性质，观察到的形态是根据功能性颅骨成分来解释的。发现额叶眶部严重畸形，同时大脑皮层和左颞叶尺寸显著减小。基于这一分析，发现该个体表现出与小头畸形相关的整体形态模式。还提出了对其他可能的遗传疾病的鉴别诊断。
