Ultrastructure of normal and pathological fossilized red blood cells compared with pseudopathological biological structures

Scanning electron microscopic examination of the bone marrow cavity of human skeletons dating from the Hellenistic Period in the Persian Gulf (330 to ca. 150 years BC) revealed the presence of fossilized blood cells. Owing to local conditions, the ultrastructure of the cells appeared to have been preserved very well. Consequently, a morphological comparison could be made between red blood cells of normal individuals and those of a man with porotic hyperostosis, which appeared to have been caused by sickle‐cell anaemia. For completeness, pseudopathological changes caused by the decomposition process were also studied.