In a microscopica electronic scanning follow-up study on human skeletons from the Hellenistic Period in the Arab-Persian Gulf,
fossilized sickle-cells were found in the bone marrow of one of the excavated skeletons. The ultrastructure of these cells
was compared to that of fossilized normal red blood cells of other skeletons from the same site, and to similar pseudo-pathological
structures. The finding of fossilized evidence of sickle-cell anemia of that date is withoutprecedent, and makes an evaluation
of related gross-anatomical skeletal changes possible.
Key Words sickle-cells - fossilization - scanning electron microscopy