Exploring the Sources of Indirect Evidence for Cardiovascular Disease in Bioarchaeology Potential Impact on Understanding Its Evolution

The first two involve blockage of blood vessels to the heart and brain, usually due to fat build-up, leading to heart attacks and strokes, respectively, but blood clots (emboli) and bleeding from a blood vessel can also cause a stroke. Fat globules may also be released into the bloodstream following severe injuries to bones. They are caused by disruption of fat cells in fractured bones (especially the femur and pelvis), and can also cause blockage of the vessels (Rothberg & Makarewich, 2019). CVDs further include rheumatic heart disease, where the heart muscle and valves are damaged by streptococcal bacteria in rheumatic fever; heart malformation at birth (congenital heart disease; and deep vein thrombosis, which leads to blood clots usually being released from the leg veins into the bloodstream causing blockage of a pulmonary artery, known as an embolism (World Health Organization, 2019).