The pubic scars of gestation and parturition in a group of pre‐Columbian and colonial Peruvian mummies

The pubic scars of pregnancy and parturition as reported in the anthropological literature are a variant of the recognized clinical entity, osteitis pubis. The os pubis from 86 pre‐Columbian and colonial Peruvian mummies were examined for this entity. Osteitis pubis was found in 13 pre‐Columbian females (72.3%) and 19 colonial Indians (57.6%). Four of the colonial women were buried with newborn children and one had a four‐month‐old fetus in utero. This type of study has application in paleopathology and forensic medicine to show possible frequency of pregnancy in a population, but must be refined and quantitated to achieve any more than this. This study is of further interest as it demonstrates that racial groups have apparently a wide difference in frequency of this particular lesion of the pubic symphysis, a matter for further investigation.