PREVALENCE OF ANENCEPHALY IN TWO ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN PORTUGAL.

Anencephaly is a specific congenital anomaly that mainly affects the skull and is the result of a problem that occurs in the neural tube during embryonic development. It occurs when there is no correct closure of the sutures and still underdevelopment of the brain. It represents a pathology with a high mortality rate and babies with this pathology end up dying shortly after birth. This communication aims to present two case studies of non-adults with anencephaly, both with an age at death of approximately 4.5 months, from two different archaeological interventions in Portugal. One from the Colégio de Jesus in Coimbra and another from the Convent of São Domingos, in Lisbon. Both necropolises belong to the Modern and Contemporary Ages (XIII - XIX centuries). The skeletons under study were qualitatively analyzed macroscopically. Metric analysis of the long bones of each of them was performed and subsequently X-rays and three-dimensional models. Both cases in the study were born without the upper region of the skullcap. In this way, it is intended to contribute to the study of this pathology since cases of anencephaly registered today are very rare, thanks to advances in medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]