ИСТИНА

The double child burial (Sunghir 2 and 3), one of the most spectacular and elaborate Upper Paleolithic funerary examples, was found in 1969 near the town of Vladimir, about 200 km northwest of Moscow. The Sunghir 3 skeleton is in a good state of preservation. Based on dental maturation, the age of it can be estimated at around 9–10 years. The Sunghir 3 femora are short and exhibit marked symmetrical antero-posterior bowing. Bowing affects the whole diaphysis and shows a regularly incurved profile, with the highest point at midshaft. Pathology is confined only to the femora. The isolated nature of the Sunghir 3 anomalies points to cases reported in the medical literature as ‘congenital bowing of long bones’ (CBLB). These are a group of rare conditions exhibiting localized, sometimes bilateral, bowing and shortening which are nonspecific and may result from different causes, including abnormalities of the primary cartilaginous anlage. Localized ossification disturbances might explain the shortening and the coincidence of maximum midshaft curvature with the position of the primary ossification center, as well as the lack of involvement of other skeletal parts. Other possibilities, like early bilateral midshaft fracture, acute plastic bowing deformities, or faulty fetal posture, are unlikely. The analysis of the European Upper Paleolithic record reveals a higher frequency of pathological deformed individuals, like the Sunghir children, Kostenki 14 (Russia) and individuals of Dolní Věstonice (Moravia). The genetic affinities between the Sunghir individuals, Kostenki, and the ‘Věstonice cluster’ are discussed in the context of developmental abnormalities.