Disease in Ancient Faces

Paleopathology: The study of disease through the evidence of fossils and other archaeological evidence. Dr. Otto Appenzeller, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Medicine at the University of New Mexico, shares his decades of research with us. Ancient iconography, in both paintings and statues, provides enough detail for modern researchers to confidently diagnose diseases of the past. Join us in this fascinating glimpse inside the biological pathologies of specific figures of antiquity!

(Apologies to all for the quality of audio! Please enable subtitles to follow more clearly.)

[elevers]

I will always appreciate your work on this channel. 'Smart YouTube' is something truly special - being able to get a 'raw' take from various academics as they work though their own research is priceless and insightful. Giving a voice to more researchers has amazing potential, especially if they can speak freely to express more theoretical (not 'conspiracy, ' but more the free interpretation of their own findings before peer review) ideas is great.

[davidvonkettering]

Thanks so much for keeping his endeavor going; I can barely think of Nick's Passing, but I know his desire to make the past live is in devoted hands.
Love,
David

[ISawABear]

Facinating. I knew ancient artist had the eye for details but the i guess honesty of the portraits are equally remarkable

[katipohl]

This is highly interesting even for me who comes from the field of phytopathology in botany. Hi from Germany and keep the good videos coming. This presentation was too short.

[TheLacedaemonian]

A great talk! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
If possible, I would love to know if Dr. Appenzeller has any thoughts or opinions on what the Athenian plague of 430 BC was? It's beautifully described by Thucydides, but it seems that I can never find an answer to this question, despite knowing the symptoms and having bodies of the dead. Any ideas?

[StevenKeery]

Fascinating! I had seen the portrait of King Stephen before and at the time I wondered why he would commission such an unflattering, portrait. Now I have a partial answer.
Cromwell, was supposed to have stated, that he wanted to be painted, warts and all.
Perhaps King Stephen had a similar belief, that his portrait should reflect, accurately, his appearance.
Thanks for uploading.

[lilydell]

Thank you, what a fascinating guest and subject.

[robertafierro]

I just LOVE videos like this. A Doctors observational skills are EVERYTHING.

[Madferreiro]

My god the audio quality is just painful!!

[paul]

Interesting but as a graphic designer I'm really skeptical of this technique. It's very easy for an artist to unintentionally make distortions in the faces they create. There are techniques to help avoid this (using mirrors, good references, measurements etc) but it depends on the level of technical skill of the artist. I could accept renaissance paintings and later, but those mummy paintings aren't at the level of realism I would trust to be able to make diagnosis from.

[igor-ypxv]

This is super interesting, thank you!

[thecrew]

Fascinating topic! I very much enjoyed this video. Thankyou.

[InfinnacageMusic]

I'm not convinced by this, he's making such massive leaps.

[secondhandrose]

Mind blowing information, thanks so much for sharing!

[andrewdurden]

The portrait of Stephen I is a 16th century painting of a 12th century king. Since the king and artist could not have met and there are no contemporary portraits of the king with crossed eyes, does this change the interpretation? Particularly since Stephen was a usurper and mostly reviled.

[Zandanga]

I noticed the low volume, so when you said to enable captions, I thought 'good idea.' Unfortunately, YT is saying captions are not available. 😕

[TheMrgoodmanners]

Can you guys also go into african pre-history please. Theres so kuch content there. Like the recent finds in nataruk turkana

[seasonofthewatchers]

Would you please consider activating the transcription tool?

[seasonofthewatchers]

Near the beginning when reviewing the gold mask, what had your guest said was involved in his deformity? 'Augomentum? Thanks

[robblanorman]

It's a fascinating subject, but I feel caution should be used in offering elaborate medical diagnoses to features in artistic renderings. The argument of facial paralysis in some subjects is strong, but other speculations strike me as fantastical, or unsupportable conjecture, which may distort actual historical records. It's a fun game/excericise, but not necessarily accurate. The portrait of King Stephen (which one...certainly not Stephen of Blois, since the portrait is much later than his reign) shows a crossed eye. While, as the doctor asserts, this may be due to diabetes, it may also be a lazy eye. I had to wear a patch over my strong eye as a child, to strengthen the lazy eye, and to keep it from crossing. Even today a half century on, in photos, my eye is captured as drooping a little and crossing slightly. I don't have diabetes. I just have a stupid looking face.