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Atapuerca, in the north of Spain, is the archaeological site where the oldest hominid remains within Europe have been found. In 2008 a jaw fragment, corresponding to the symphyseal area, was discovered in the area called the 'Elephant's pit'. Its age has been estimated at 1.2 million years and it is considered to be the oldest human fossil found in Europe and is from the lower Pleistocene. This work analyses the dental and skeletal damage to the specimen, detected in a macroscopic study of possible horizontal and vertical bone loss at the level of support of the remaining teeth. The limited presence of dental scale, the pattern of destruction and the decreased bone density due to increased marrow spaces suggest the presence of possible periodontal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1554 Juan Valverde de Amusco, a Spanish anatomist, wrote the History of the composition of the human body, a complete anatomical treatise that took as its model the Vesalius school of thought (La fábrica of Vesalius). Considered one of the most complete anatomical treatises of the Renaissance and one of the most widely read books of the sixteenth century, it was translated into four languages in its day. The first chapter, devoted to bones, provides a meticulously detailed analysis of the bones of the facial structures and of the teeth, their supporting structures, vascularisation and innervation. Juan Valverde de Amusco even describes techniques for reducing mandibular luxations. Even with the imprecise observations typical of the time the treatise must be considered an exceptional document. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]