Micro computed tomography and histological examination of a pathological lesion (healed fracture) in a horse tooth from the medieval site of Crkveno Brdo, Serbia

Abstract

This paper aims to provide insight into the etiology and differential diagnosis of a raresevere pathological lesion in an isolated equine tooth from the medieval site ofCrkveno Brdo. The site is located in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin, thatis, in the northern part of present-day Serbia near Senta, some 9 km south-west ofthe town center in the vicinity of the village of Gornji Breg. The specimen presentedin this study comes from the cultural layer dated to the period between the 14th andthe 15th centuries. A healed oblique fracture was present in the right upper secondpremolar (106) of a horse (Equus caballus) 7–10 years of age. The specimen was subjectedto an interdisciplinary approach, including identification of species and toothtype, and assessment of age at death, employing microcomputed tomography(microCT), and histopathology to differentially diagnose the pathological condition.The obtained results were additionally compared with findings in an apparently similarmodern case of known etiology.