Reading the Skull: Investigating Calvarial Lesions from Colonial Burials in a Lakeshore Town in Batangas, Philippines

Marvin D. Dorosan*, Kimberly Anne Plomp, and Grace Barretto-Tesoro

The 2024 archaeological excavation in the lakeshore town of Talisay, Batangas, Philippines, yielded several human burials that provide an opportunity to examine aspects of health and lived experience in a past lakeshore community. Among the recovered remains were both articulated burials and disarticulated skeletal elements, including a number of crania that displayed observable pathological lesions. This study focuses on the documentation and preliminary assessment of these cranial lesions in order to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about past lifeways and health conditions in the region. All recovered skulls were systematically examined for pathological changes, with particular attention given to the morphology, location, and distribution of lesions on the cranial vault and facial bones. These observations were recorded through standard osteological documentation methods and compared with established diagnostic criteria in paleopathology. For individuals recovered in articulated contexts, osteological analysis of the post-cranial skeleton was also undertaken to provide additional data that may aid in the differential diagnosis of the observed cranial conditions. The integration of cranial and post-cranial observations allows for a more comprehensive assessment of possible systemic or localised diseases. By contextualizing skeletal evidence within the archaeological setting of a lakeshore settlement in Batangas, this study contributes to broader discussions on health, disease, and lived experiences in past Philippine communities. The findings highlight the value of integrating palaeopathological analysis with archaeological data to better understand the biological and social dimensions of life in the past.