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Site: Jarrow monastic site, Tyne and Wear.
Period: Late Saxon to post-medieval.
Excavator: Prof. R.J. Cramp, Durham University.
Published: forthcoming.
Skeleton: child, 2-3 years.
Catalogue entry: Both orbits are affected with cribra orbitalia. The right side is cribriotic (2nd degree) and the left trabecular (3rd degree).
Cribra orbitalia is a pathological lesion of the roof of the eye socket (orbit) which has been associated with iron deficiency anaemia. It causes pitting, porosity of the smooth bone in the orbit, and sometimes new thickened bone growth. It is particularly prevalent in children, and as with this child, the degree of the condition is often greater in the very young.