Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Ancient and Modern

Evidence of cancer in mediaeval remains

11 July 2021

Ancient and Modern

We often think of cancer as a recent disease, perhaps brought about by modern, industrialised living. In fact, its grim history stretches a lot further back. Evidence of tumours has been found in fossilised dinosaur bones, as well as in human remains from many thousands of years ago in sites all over the world. Even so, the disease was thought to be rare in ancient times. Now a new study using X-ray and CT scanners to analyse bones from skeletons in medieval graveyards ranging from the 6th to the 16th century has revealed previously hidden evidence of cancer in many remains. Here, we see a hole in the right-hand side of an excavated vertebral bone which was caused by cancer cells growing in the spine. The researchers calculate that between 9% and 14% of medieval adults had cancer at the time of their death – around ten times higher than previously thought.

Find out more about the history of cancer in Kat’s recent book, Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life

Written by Kat Arney

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.