Apatitic urinary calculi from early American Indians

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Abstract
Apatitic urinary calculi from 2 midwestern archeological sites have been analyzed microscopically and by X-ray powder diffraction techniques. One specimen is from the Red Ocher culture and was found in a mound in Fulton County, Illinois; the other is from the Bowen site, Marion County, Indiana. Each specimen was recovered from the "pelvis" of a burial. The archeological findings are discussed briefly. The specimen from the Red Ocher culture, dated as 1500 B.C., was dominantly apatite with a small amount of struvite, and showed textural evidence of the removal of some struvite. The specimen from the Bowen site, dated as 1500 AD was exceptionally well-crystallized pure apatite. The early inhabitants of America apparently suffered from urinary-tract diseases similar to those of present-day man.

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