Khartoum – Three gallstones have been found among the bones of the pelvis of an elderly person lived more than 9,000 years ago, in the prehistoric cemetery of Al Khiday, located 20 kilometers south of Omdurman, along the left bank of the White Nile. The analyses on the three stones, conducted by Lara Maritan, Gilberto Artioli and Gregorio dal Sasso from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Padua, have unequivocally established the prostatic origin excluding other forms of stones, such as kidney diseases more common among prehistoric peoples. The stones, two of which are of significant size, were investigated by electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction scanning showing a very particular structure and composition by crystals of apatite and whitlockite. The research “Late Pleistocene / Early Holocene evidence of prostatic stones at Al Khiday cemetery, Central Sudan” has been published in recent days on the prestigious “PloS One” magazine. (9colonne)
