Unilateral non-osseous calcaneonavicular coalition: report of a Portuguese archeological case

Abstract

This paper details an unusual morphology detected in two right foot bones, the calcaneus and navicular bone, of an adult female skeleton exhumed from the Late Roman cemetery of Miroiço (Sintra, Portugal). This anomaly seems to represent a case of unilateral non-osseous calcaneonavicular coalition. Tarsal coalitions are anatomical anomalies occasionally described in clinical and rarely in archeological samples. The present case appears to be the second earliest case reported of non-osseous calcaneonavicular coalition for European osteological samples and adds to the very few archeological case descriptions available.