A probable case of rheumatoid arthritis from the middle Anglo-Saxon period

• A case of probable rheumatoid arthritis is reported.
• The skeleton dates from the middle-Saxon period, c. AD 650–900.
• Very few cases of rheumatoid arthritis of this early date are known in Europe.
• Differential diagnoses include erosive osteoarthritis and spondyloarthropathies.

We present here a case of erosive polyarthropathy in an incomplete skeleton from a middle-Saxon period (c. AD 650–900) cemetery site in Sedgeford, Norfolk, England. After a differential diagnosis that includes erosive osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis, we believe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to be the most probable cause. This example may therefore add to the evidence for an early date for the appearance of RA in Europe.