ABSTRACT
This chapter examines haematopoietic disorders that can affect the human skeleton. These disorders are related to the haematopoietic system, which is responsible for blood cell synthesis, and may have a genetic or environmental aetiology. The focus of this chapter is on anaemias, including both iron deficiency anaemia and genetic anaemias (thalassaemia, sickle cell anaemia), as well as blood cancers (leukaemia, multiple myeloma). A brief discussion of the aetiology of each disease is given, with a focus on its expression in human skeletal remains and different diagnostic criteria proposed in the palaeopathological literature. The references and suggested readings at the end of this chapter include additional important works on this topic.
