Tumor and Teeth in Late Roman Spain. By Noah Wiener. Bible History Daily, January 23, 2013.
Toothy Tumor Found in 1,600-Year-Old Roman Corpse. By Owen Jarus. LiveScience, January 21, 2013.
An ovarian tetratoma of late Roman age. By Núria Armentano, Mercè Subirana, Albert Isidro, Oscar Escala,
Assumpció Malgosa. International Journal of Paleopathology, December 2012.
Wiener:
Archaeologists
excavating a Spanish necropolis discovered a calcified tumor with a bone and
four teeth in the pelvis of a late Roman woman. This is the first time that
archaeologists have come across the bizarre cancer in the ancient world. Known
as ovarian teratoma, the tumor can form human eggs from germ cells to create
hair, teeth and bone. This 1600-year-old tumor appears to have been benign, and
may not have caused the death of the 30-something year-old woman, who was part
of a lower economic class during a period when a fragmented Spain was divided
between the Vandals, Suevi and Alans as the Roman Empire collapsed.