| Title: |
Spondylolysis in non-adult skeletons excavated from a medieval rural archaeological site in England
|
| Issue: |
Internat J Osteoarchaeol 17 (5) |
| Series: |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
|
| Volume: |
17
(5)
|
| Page Start/End: |
504 - 513 |
| Biblio Note |
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|
| Publication Type: |
Journal
|
| Abstract: |
The paper describes a study of spondylolysis in a large series of non-adult skeletons, ranging in age at death from twenty-eight weeks gestation to eighteen years old, from the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy. The aim of the study was to shed light on the age of occurrence of the lesion. Among those with complete lumbar spines, the prevalence of spondylolysis is 0.7%. The prevalence in adults from this group is 12% with no age patterning. Age of occurrence of spondylolysis in this population is inferred generally to be during late adolescent or early adult life. This contrasts with a published study of a modern reference group, unselected for activity patterns or medical complaints, which reported that in most cases spondylolytic defects had already formed by six years of age. The Wharram Percy group appeared to resemble rather more the pattern seen today in those involved in strenuous activities, such as competitive sports, both in the relatively late age of occurrence of defects and in the eventual high prevalence. This may be consistent with the observation that, during adolescence, individuals in medieval rural communities were beginning to take on adult tasks which would have been physically strenuous. However, it is unclear why individuals from Wharram Percy did not also form defects in early childhood as modern children appear to. A late age of occurrence appears consistent with published data which suggest a paucity of cases in non-adults in British archaeological populations. |
| Year of Publication: |
2007
|
| Subjects / Periods: |
| Rural Archaeological Site (Auto Detected Subject) |
| Archaeological Populations (Auto Detected Subject) |
|
MEDIEVAL
(Historic England Periods)
|
|
|
| Source: |
BIAB
(The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
|
| Relations: |
|
| Created Date: |
27 Aug 2008 |
