Palaeopathology of the Kechipawan site: Health and disease in a South-western Pueblo

The palaeopathology of the Pueblo of Kechipawan, New Mexico, is examined in the context of South-western demographic patterns. A case of complicated treponemal infection associated with prehistoric pottery remains is described and diagnosed. The establishment in the area of endemic and possibly venereal syphilis, at a time of high population density, is suggested on the basis of the contemporaneity of reported cases and Pueblo settlement patterns.