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Internat J Osteoarchaeol 15 (3)
Title
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Title:
Internat J Osteoarchaeol 15 (3)
Series
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Series:
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
Volume
Volume number and part
Volume:
15 (3)
Publication Type
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Publication Type:
Journal
Author
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Author:
Terry P O'Connor
Editor
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Editor:
G J R Maat
Shelley Saunders
Publisher
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Publisher:
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Year of Publication
The year the book, article or report was published
Year of Publication:
2005
Source
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Source:
BIAB (The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
Relations
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Relations:
URI:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jissue/110503513
Created Date
The date the record of the pubication was first entered
Created Date:
04 May 2007
Please click on an Article link to go to the Article Details.
Article Title
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Abstract
The relationship of bone mineral density and other growth parameters to stress indicators in a medieval juvenile population
Janis M McEwan
Simon Mays
G M Blake
155 - 163
The radii of thirty-four juveniles from Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, were measured for bone mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in order to investigate evidence of stress including Harris lines, cribra orbitalia and deficient cortical index, which is usually attributed to poor nutrition. BMD measurements are used in modern children to assess growth and development and generally correlate with linear growth. Only rare chronic illnesses affect bone mineral accrual in children. Radiographs of the radii were examined to assess cortical index and of the femora and radii for Harris lines. The results indicate that BMD is well correlated with dental age and linear growth, but is poorly correlated with cortical index. The variability in cortical index indicates the influence of environmental factors. There is no relationship between BMD and the presence or absence of Harris lines or cribra orbitalia. Thus, despite obvious evidence of skeletal stress in this juvenile population, bone was not under-mineralised and bone mineral accrual proceeded normally with growth. This reinforces the conclusion that cortical index is a more sensitive indicator of environmental stress than either Harris lines or cribra orbitalia, and may be compared with BMD measurements to assess the effect of stress on growth.
Prevalence rates of spondylolysis in British skeletal populations
Linda Fibiger
C J Knüsel
164 - 174
The paper documents the prevalence of spondylolytic defects in a series of time-successive populations with special reference to the recording methods employed, and compares the findings with modern clinical studies. The authors identify epidemiological trends in expression of the condition through 1500 years in a series of skeletonised human remains from England. This includes a fifth- to sixth-century settlement, a fifteenth-century mass grave, a fourteenth- to seventeenth-century rural parish, a medieval Dominican friary, a medieval leper hospital and an eighteenth- to nineteenth-century crypt collection. These skeletal populations sample human groups experiencing considerable social change from an agrarian, non-centralised early medieval period through the development of the medieval state to the earliest phases of industrialisation in England. A detailed study of all lumbar vertebrae in one of the assemblages highlights discrepancies between clinical prevalence rates for spondylolysis established through radiography, and those resulting from direct osteological analysis of the lumbar region of the vertebral column. Current prevalence rates cited in the osteological as well as the clinical literature are greatly dependent upon the recording methods employed, and the effects of several methods for osteological remains are considered in this treatment. For the populations reported on here, prevalence rates vary from considerably less than 1% to as much as 12%, depending on the method selected. A standardised recording method for spondylolytic lesions is suggested to facilitate accurate prevalence reporting and comparison of activity levels between different populations.
Description, significance and frequency of the acetabular crease of the hip bone
Bertrand Mafart
208 - 215
The acetabular crease is a linear indentation located in the antero-superior quadrant of the surface of the acetabulum at the level of the Byers Feature 17. Considered by palaeoanthropologists as a discrete trait, it is argued that it has received scarce attention and that the mechanisms underlying its formation and variations according to sex and age remain largely unclear. The purpose of the study, carried out on a large sample from a historic population in France, was to analyse variations according to side, sex and estimated age at death; to assess diachronic variations; and to compare prevalence in various prehistoric and historic populations. Hip bones from a total of 425 subjects of both sexes and all ages were studied. Specimens were from two French historic samples dating from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries and sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. The proportion of subjects that died young was higher in the eleventh- to thirteenth-century group, but the prevalence of the acetabular crease was comparable between the two groups regardless of site or laterality (unilateral or bilateral). No sexual dimorphism or correlation with age was noted at either period. The acetabular crease appears to be a stable anatomical trait throughout adult life, with no predominant side and no correlation with sex. The significantly higher prevalence of the acetabular crease in some historic French samples and in prehistoric native Canadian populations could be linked to greater biomechanical stress during childhood in rural medieval populations and in the prehistoric period.