RESUMO
In the past, executioners played an important role in the legal system. Besides sentence executions, they also worked as dogcatchers (i.e., eliminating stray animals or cadavers of dead animals from towns), and were responsible for sanitary conditions within their towns and closest neighborhoods. Archaeological explorations of gallows in the towns of Lower Silesia (Poland) provide evidence of such activities, including animal skeletal remains. Archaeozoological analysis of these materials from the towns Kamienna Góra (Landeshut), Zlotoryja (Goldberg), and Jelenia Góra (Hirschberg) are the subjects of this study. Our work also stresses the nature of the executioner's profession in animal health control and town hygiene maintenance before the development of modern veterinary services. The results show significant differences in the frequency of species and distribution of anatomical elements in accessible assemblages compared with animal skeletal remains unearthed in typical waste pits or classical inhumation, allowing the assumption that the animals were anatomically adults, and their health statuses were generally good. The dominant species, equids and dogs, were represented by skeletal remains, with the predominance of less valuable body parts (distal parts of appendices, caudal parts of the vertebral column). The fragmentation of accessible bone assemblages narrows the ability of larger conclusions (i.e., minimum number of individual estimations). The work enlightens the complex role of executioners pertaining to the hygiene of early modern town communities, a role later replaced by professional veterinarians with all of the consequences of the transition process.
RESUMO
Fish frequently serve as bioindicators of aquatic environments during their ecological evaluation. Carpathian barbel (Barbus carpathicus, Cyprinidae) is a species common to rivers and lakes of Eurasia and Africa. Seasons of the year can influence its skin morphology and mucus composition. The clinical status of the animal depends on the above-mentioned factors. The aim of this study was a histological, histometrical and electrophoretical analysis of periodical changes in barbel common integument. The accessible material was investigated in histological, cytological and electrophoretic analysis using hematoxylin-eosin staining, histometric morphometry, gel electrophoresis and cytological methods. The results demonstrated significant differences in the investigated parameters for spring-summer and autumn-winter periods. Both skin epithelium morphology (epithelium thickness, number of cell layers, melanophores and mucous cell existence) and mucus composition (proteins, immune system cells, keratinocytes and mucocytes) showed significant differences between investigated seasons. These morphological and physiological changes were more pronounced in the dorsal than ventral regions of common integument. The differences in the physical characteristics of mucus and the histological structure of the skin cannot only serve as a source of useful information about an evaluated ecosystem, but can be also related to additional factors, e.g., microbiological and chemical water contamination.
RESUMO
This report presents canid cranial skeletal pathology from an excavation associated with the Przeworsk culture (III c. BC - V c. AD). The dog skull, an intentional inhumation, was dated to the Roman influence and the Migration period (I - V c. AD. The dog was a relatively large animal with a shoulder height calculated as approximately 60 cm. Massive bone changes localized on the facial surface of the left maxilla required a multistage diagnostic protocol. In addition to traditional macroscopic and morphometric evaluation, we used modern diagnostic imaging techniques such as digital radiography, computed tomography and 3D reconstruction. These, along with histopathological studies, allowed us to identify a primary malignant bone tumor: telangiectatic osteosarcoma.
