Rib remodeling dynamics in a skeletal population from Kulubnarti, Nubia

Bone remodeling variables in the rib were analyzed for a skeletal population of medieval antiquity (ca. A.D. 550-1450) from Kulubnarti, in Sudanese Nubia. The skeletal remains are naturally mummified and in an excellent state of preservation. The study sample consists of thin sections from the ribs of 80 individuals, ranging in age from 15-50+ years. Ribs were examined using a standard microscope and image analysis software. Numbers of intact osteons, fragmentary osteons, forming osteons, and resorption spaces were counted, osteon and Haversian canal areas were measured, and several variables were calculated to assess morphometric and remodeling status in the rib. Variables calculated included mean annual activation frequency, mean bone formation rate, and net osteonal remodeling. Results indicate that age changes are consistent with those observed for other archaeological and modern samples. High numbers of resorption spaces in young males may reflect slower skeletal development in boys compared to girls. Comparisons of rib data with results of a previous study on patterns of femoral bone remodeling in the same population indicate that ribs have more osteons and higher bone formation rates compared to the femur. Also, sexual differences in osteon size observed in the femur were not observed in the rib. Activation frequency and bone formation rate are low in the Kulubnarti population compared to previously published data for a modern sample, a finding consistent with reported results from other archaeological samples. Genetic factors influencing the minimum effective strain setpoint and duration of skeletal maturation, in addition to repetitive high strains at Kulubnarti, may contribute to observed differences.     

Fluctuating asymmetry and stress in a medieval Nubian population

Fluctuating asymmetry is commonly used as a bioindicator of developmental stress. This study addresses asymmetry under nutritional/systemic stress in the human craniofacial skeleton and its utility as an indicator of developmental instability. Crania from the diachronic Christian cemeteries at Kulubnarti (Sudanese Nubia) were chosen as a model for nutrition/systemic stress. Previous studies indicate that individuals from the Early Christian cemetery were subjected to greater developmental stress when compared with individuals from the Late Christian cemetery. Therefore, crania from the Early Christian cemetery should display a greater magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry than crania from the Late Christian cemetery. Thirty adult crania of comparable age and sex were selected from each population. Landmark coordinates were digitized in two separate trials and averaged to minimize error. Euclidean distance matrix analysis (EDMA) was used to measure and compare the magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry in each sample. Results indicate that crania from the Early Christian cemetery display greater amounts of fluctuating asymmetry than those from the Late Christian cemetery, as predicted. The degree of fluctuating asymmetry for each linear distance is highly correlated between the cemeteries, suggesting that all humans may share common patterns of fluctuating asymmetry in the skull. In contrast, there is little correlation between magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry and length of linear distance, between-subject variability, or measurement error. These results support the hypothesis that poor nutrition/systemic stress increases developmental instability in the human skull and that increased fluctuating asymmetry constitutes morphological evidence of this stress.     

Brief communication: A proposed osteological method for the estimation of pubertal stage in human skeletal remains

Puberty forms an important threshold between childhood and adulthood, but this subject has received little attention in bioarchaeology. The new application of clinical methods to assess pubertal stage in adolescent skeletal remains is explored, concentrating on the development of the mandibular canine, hamate, hand phalanges, iliac crest and distal radius. Initial results from the medieval cemetery of St. Peter's Church, Barton‐upon‐Humber, England suggest that application of these methods may provide insights into aspects of adolescent development. This analysis indicates that adolescents from this medieval site were entering the pubertal growth spurt at a similar age to their modern counterparts, but that the later stages of pubertal maturation were being significantly delayed, perhaps due to environmental stress. Continued testing and refinement of these methods on living adolescents is still necessary to improve our understanding of their significance and accuracy in predicting pubertal stages. Am J Phys Anthropol 151:302–310, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Basics in paleodemography: a comparison of age indicators applied to the early medieval skeletal sample of Lauchheim

Recent advances in the methods of skeletal age estimation have rekindled interest in their applicability to paleodemography. The current study contributes to the discussion by applying several long established as well as recently developed or refined aging methods to a subsample of 121 adult skeletons from the early medieval cemetery of Lauchheim. The skeletal remains were analyzed by 13 independent observers using a variety of aging techniques (complex method and other multimethod approaches, Transition Analysis, cranial suture closure, auricular surface method, osteon density method, tooth root translucency measurement, and tooth cementum annulation counting). The age ranges and mean age estimations were compared and results indicate that all methods showed smaller age ranges for the younger individuals, but broader age ranges for the older age groups.     

Pattern of dental eruption,skeletal maturation and stress in a Medieval Population from Sudanese Nubia

The present research represents a comparison of dental and skeletal development as a means for determining nutritional stress in a Medieval Christian population from Nubia’sBatn el Hajar. The sample consists of 21 individuals from an early Christian (c 550–750) and 23 individuals from a late Christian cemetery (c mid-16th century) excavated from the site of Kulubnarti, Sudan. Ages at death ranged from 12 to 23 years. For the combined sample, a large majority (70.5%) of individuals had skeletal ages younger than their dental ages. However, a comparison of those individuals that could be sexed revealed that the pattern was not consistent for males and females. Females showed no difference between skeletal and dental age while males showed significant skeletal retardation. This pattern of sex differences is consistent with that observed for modern living children and subadults experiencing nutritional stress. A comparison by cemetry also suggests a reduction in stress from early to late Christian times with later Christians showing a closer correspondence between skeletal and dental ages. While not statistically significant, this apparent reduction is consistent with previous research on the subadult remains.     

Leprosy in the early medieval Lauchheim community

Leprosy was a well-recognized and dreaded disease in medieval Europe (5th-15th century AD). It is reported to have reached Germany with the Roman invasion. A much larger fraction than previously assumed appears to have been affected by leprosy in the medieval period. This article estimates the frequency (i.e., the prevalence at death) of leprosy among adult people buried in the Lauchheim early medieval cemetery. Seven different dichotomous osteological lesions indicative of leprosy are analyzed, and it is possible to score at least one of these conditions on 110 adult skeletons (aged 15 or more). The scores were transformed to a statistic--lambda (lambda)--indicating the likelihood that the person to whom the skeleton belonged suffered from leprosy. The analyses indicate that 16% (95% confidence interval: 9-23%) of adult people in Lauchheim died with osteological signs of leprosy. Leprosy was significantly more prevalent among men than women. The lambda statistic indicates that people who died with signs of leprosy did not differ in the distribution of age at death from those who did not have such signs. Some of the leprosy-related lesions had a statistically significant nonrandom dispersal on the cemetery; but there is no clear pattern to this and the significant results could be easily attributed to a type-1 error in the statistical analysis.     

Irrigation and infection: the immunoepidemiology of schistosomiasis in ancient Nubia

Schistosomiasis has been deemed "the most important water-based disease from a global public-health perspective" in modern populations. To better understand the burden of schistosomiasis in ancient populations, we conducted immunologic examinations of desiccated tissue samples from two ancient Nubian populations, Wadi Halfa (N = 46) and Kulubnarti (N = 191). Saqia irrigated agriculture increases the available habitat for the aquatic vector snails and the risk of exposure. On the basis of evidence regarding the impact of saqia irrigation on schistosomiasis prevalence and transmission in modern populations, we predicted that the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection would be higher in Wadi Halfa (saqia irrigation) than Kulubnarti (annual flooding). We also predicted that peak infection prevalence would occur at an earlier age within the Wadi Halfa population than the Kulubnarti population and that in both populations the prevalence of schistosomiasis would be higher in males than females due to differential water contact. The prevalence of S. mansoni was greater in the Wadi Halfa population (26.1%) than at Kulubnarti (9.4%) (P = 0.002). However, peak prevalence of infection did not occur in a younger age category within the Wadi Halfa population; prevalence of infection peaked at 66.7% in the mature adult age group (46+ years) in the Wadi Halfa population and at 16% in the later child age group (6-10 years) in the Kulubnarti population. There were no statistically significant differences in prevalence between males and females of either population. The impact of human alteration of the environment on the transmission of schistosomiasis is clearly shown in these populations.     

Patterns of long-bone fracture in two nubian cementeries

The analysis of traumatic fractures can provide valuable information concerning the affects of sociopolitical factors upon the health of prehistoric populations. However, such information can only be acquired by implementing a quantitative demographic approach. The present research applies such a method to longbone fractures in two medieval Christian populations excavated from ancient Nubia. Long-bones of two hundred and eighteen individuals from an early (550 to 750 A.D.) Christian cemetery and 188 individuals from a late (750 to 1450 A.D.) Christian cemetery were examined for evidence of traumatic fracture. Analysis included a determination of fracture rates, age and sex related fracture patterns, and rate of fracture per years at risk. The results of this study indicate that the majority of fractures in both cemeteries were likely caused by accidental falls. Fractures resulting from direct (possibly interpersonal) violence were found in both samples, though at a higher frequency in the early Christian population (27% versus 16%). Middle-aged adults (particularly males) of the early cemetery exhibited a higher than expected risk to fractures indicating an activity related cause of injury. In contrast, the late Christian population showed a marked increase in fractures among both children and the elderly. This distribution may reflect changes in health and residential architecture which occurred during the late Christian period.     

Sex differences in periodontal disease in catastrophic and attritional assemblages from medieval london

Periodontal disease is one of the most common chronic diseases in living populations, and most studies that have examined sex differences in periodontal disease have found higher frequencies in men compared to women. This study examines sex differences in periodontal disease in two cemeteries from medieval London: the East Smithfield cemetery (c. 1349–1350), an exclusively Black Death cemetery that represents catastrophic mortality (n = 161), and the St. Mary Graces cemetery (c. 1350–1538), a post‐Black Death attritional assemblage that represents normal medieval mortality (n = 100). The results reveal a significantly higher frequency of periodontal disease, independent of age, among males compared with females in St. Mary Graces, but no significant difference between the sexes in East Smithfield. The sex differences in the attritional assemblage might reflect heightened susceptibility to periodontal disease in the living population or sex differences in frailty. The differences in the sex patterns of periodontal disease between the two cemeteries might be the result of disproportionately negative effects of the Great Bovine Pestilence and consequent decreases in dairy availability on female oral health among victims of the Black Death. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Brief communication: A test and correction of the clavicle method of Stout and Paine for histological age estimation of skeletal remains

The histological method developed by Stout and Paine ([1992] Am. J. Phys. Antropol. 87:111–115) for estimating age at death using the clavicle is tested on a known age independent sample from a nineteenth century cemetery near Spitalfriedhof St. Johann in Basel, Switzerland. The mean absolute difference between reported ages and histologically predicted ages is 5.5 years. Mean predicted age for the sample is different from mean reported age. This difference is accounted for by differences in the age distributions between the original autopsy sample used to derive the histological age-predicting formula and the cemetery sample, and an inherent loss of reliability of histological age predictions for the skeletal remains of older individuals. A new formula based upon the combined original autopsy sample of Stout and Paine (1992) and the Swiss cemetery sample is presented. It is recommended that this formula be used when estimating ages for older individuals or archaeological skeletal samples. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Brief communication: A proposed method for the assessment of pubertal stage in human skeletal remains using cervical vertebrae maturation

The assessment of age‐at‐death in non‐adult skeletal remains is under constant review. However, in many past societies an individual's physical maturation may have been more important in social terms than their exact age, particularly during the period of adolescence. In a recent article (Shapland and Lewis: Am J Phys Anthropol 151 (2013) 302–310) highlighted a set of dental and skeletal indicators that may be useful in mapping the progress of the pubertal growth spurt. This article presents a further skeletal indicator of adolescent development commonly used by modern clinicians: cervical vertebrae maturation (CVM). This method is applied to a collection of 594 adolescents from the medieval cemetery of St. Mary Spital, London. Analysis reveals a potential delay in ages of attainment of the later CVM stages compared with modern adolescents, presumably reflecting negative environmental conditions for growth and development. The data gathered on CVM is compared to other skeletal indicators of pubertal maturity and long bone growth from this site to ascertain the usefulness of this method on archaeological collections. Am J Phys Anthropol 153:144–153, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The association between periodontal disease and periosteal lesions in the St. Mary Graces cemetery, London, England A.D. 1350-1538

Numerous studies have demonstrated significant associations between periodontal disease and many other diseases in living populations, and some studies have shown that individuals with periodontal disease are at elevated risks of mortality. Recent analysis of a medieval skeletal sample from London has also shown that periodontal disease was associated with increased risks of mortality in the past. This study examines whether periodontal disease is associated with periosteal lesions in a skeletal sample from the urban St. Mary Graces cemetery (n = 265) from medieval London. The results reveal a significant association between periodontal disease and periosteal lesions in the St. Mary Graces sample (i.e., individuals with periodontal disease were also likely to have periosteal lesions), and the association between the two is independent of age. The association between the two pathological conditions might reflect underlying reduced immune competence and thus heightened susceptibility to pathogens that cause periodontal disease or periosteal lesions, exposure to an environmental factor, or underlying heightened inflammatory responses.     

The Black Death in Hereford,England: A demographic analysis of the Cathedral 14th-century plague mass graves and associated parish cemetery

Objectives

This study explores the paleoepidemiology of the Black Death (1348–52 AD) mass graves from Hereford, England, via osteological analysis. Hereford plague mortality is evaluated in the local context of the medieval city and examined alongside other Black Death burials.

Methods

The Hereford Cathedral site includes mass graves relating to the Black Death and a 12th-16th century parish cemetery. In total, 177 adult skeletons were analyzed macroscopically: 73 from the mass graves and 104 from the parish cemetery. Skeletal age-at-death was assessed using transition analysis, and sex and stress markers were analyzed.

Results

The age-at-death distributions for the mass graves and parish cemetery were significantly different (p = 0.0496). Within the mass graves, young adults (15–24 years) were substantially over-represented, and mortality peaked at 25–34 years. From 35 years of age onwards, there was little variation in the mortality profiles for the mass graves and parish cemetery. Males and females had similar representation across burial types. Linear enamel hypoplasia was more prevalent within the mass graves (p = 0.0340) whereas cribra orbitalia and tibial periostitis were underrepresented.

Conclusions

Mortality within the Hereford mass graves peaked at a slightly older age than is seen within plague burials from London, but the overall profiles are similar. This demonstrates that young adults were disproportionately at risk of dying from plague compared with other age groups. Our findings regarding stress markers may indicate that enamel hypoplasia is more strongly associated with vulnerability to plague than cribra orbitalia or tibial periostitis.     

Bilateral asymmetry in skeletal growth and maturation as an indicator of environmental stress.

This study examined the efficacy of bilateral asymmetry in epiphyseal union as an indicator of environmental stress affecting the skeleton. We compared the extent of asymmetry in the postcranial skeleton between two cemetery samples excavated from Medieval Kulubnarti, Sudanese Nubia. Past studies have strongly suggested that these ancient Nubians experienced environmental stress-the early Christian period (550-750 AD) population to a greater extent than the late Christian period (750-1450 AD) population. We hypothesized that if bilateral asymmetry is a reflection of stress, then it should be present or greater in the more stressed population, the early Christian period population, while absent or found to a lesser extent in the less stressed population, the late Christian period population. We computed two mean values, representative of right-side and left-side epiphyseal union, for each individual in both cemetery samples, and tested for significant differences. Bilateral asymmetry was significant in the combined cemetery sample of 90 individuals (P < 0.019). When cemetery samples were tested separately, bilateral asymmetry was significant for the early Christian period sample (P < 0.001), but not for the late Christian period sample. There were no differences attributable to sex. Finally, we discuss why we conclude that environmental stress was favored over a biomechanic explanation as the cause for asymmetry. To the extent that our results support previous findings that early Christian period individuals were more affected by environmental stress than late Christian period individuals, it is reasonable to consider bilateral asymmetry in skeletal growth and maturation a good indicator of environmental stress.     

Sex differentials in frailty in medieval England

In most modern populations, there are sex differentials in morbidity and mortality that favor women. This study addresses whether such female advantages existed to any appreciable degree in medieval Europe. The analyses presented here examine whether men and women with osteological stress markers faced the same risks of death in medieval London. The sample used for this study comes from the East Smithfield Black Death cemetery in London. The benefit of using this cemetery is that most, if not all, individuals interred in East Smithfield died from the same cause within a very short period of time. This allows for the analysis of the differences between men and women in the risks of mortality associated with osteological stress markers without the potential confounding effects of different causes of death. A sample of 299 adults (173 males, 126 females) from the East Smithfield cemetery was analyzed. The results indicate that the excess mortality associated with several osteological stress markers was higher for men than for women. This suggests that in this medieval population, previous physiological stress increased the risk of death for men during the Black Death to a greater extent than was true for women. Alternatively, the results might indicate that the Black Death discriminated less strongly between women with and without pre‐existing health conditions than was true for men. These results are examined in light of previous analyses of East Smithfield and what is known about diet and sexually mediated access to resources in medieval England. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:285–297, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Loss of identity in nineteenth-century Norway: Oslo's House of Correction

In Norway, there was considerable overlap between the poor house, the workhouse, and correctional facilities. An assemblage of human skeletal remains from Oslo's House of Correction cemetery, largely comprised of individuals disturbed during municipal development in 1989, consists of c. 314 individuals who died as inmates or residents; many were disabled or elderly. Although names were recorded at death, the cemetery lacked grave markers or a map, with no expectation families might one day reclaim relatives. All remains have been aged and sexed anthropologically, with samples collected for biomolecular investigations. Despite extensive archival documentation, including names recorded in the House of Correction church book, their identities are shrouded by time. Observations of age, injury, and disease can suggest why inmates ended up in the House of Correction cemetery. But there, individual stories end and identities are lost.     

Outside St. Jørgen: leprosy in the medieval Danish city of Odense

Leprosy was a common and dreaded disease in the Danish Middle Ages (AD 1050-1536). Starting in the second half of the 13th century, leprosaria were established in many Danish towns and cities. In the city of Odense (on the island of Funen, Denmark), the cemetery of the leprosarium was totally excavated, and four nonleprosarium medieval and early modern cemeteries have been partly excavated. This paper explores the frequency of leprosy in the nonleprosarium cemeteries in Odense, and looks for evidence of selective exclusion from the ordinary population. The analyses are based on 733 skeletons from four cemeteries in Odense: the Gray Friars monastery, St. Albani parish church, St. Knuds cathedral, and Black Friars monastery. Seven lesions are scored and, based on known epidemiological properties (i.e., specificity and sensitivity) of these lesions, scores were transformed to statistics characterizing an individual's risk of having suffered from leprosy. This statistical approach remains of primary theoretical value, pending confirmation by independent research groups at other sites. Prevalence of the skeletal manifestation of leprosy at death varied between 0-17% among the different cemeteries in Odense. The highest prevalence was seen in cemeteries with many burials before AD 1400. It is estimated that before AD 1400, between 14-17% of those buried in the nonleprosarium cemeteries suffered from leprosy. In all nonleprosarium cemeteries, there was evidence for selective exclusion of people with facial leprosy lesions. For a short period just up to AD 1300, the cemetery of the Odense leprosarium had, on average, more than 20 yearly burials. The establishment of the leprosarium was followed within a relatively short period by a dramatic decline in the number of sufferers of leprosy in the nonleprosarium cemeteries. The number of yearly burials in the leprosarium cemetery also declined rapidly during the 14th century. The present analyses do not permit conclusions about the reasons for this decline in leprosy prevalence.     

Female biological resiliency: Differential stress response by sex in human remains from ancient Nubia

This research presents male-female differences in stress response evidenced in human remains from the Medieval site of Kulubnarti in Sudanese Nubia. This analysis is unique in that a direct comparison of subadult males and females is rarely possible using archaeological remains. Rather, such analyses invariably rely on evidence of subadult differences retained in adult (sexable) skeletons. In the case of Kulubnarti, natural mummification has made it possible to measure sex-specific differences among subadults as well as adults following five avenues of investigation: 1) mortality, 2) growth and development, 3) enamel hypoplasia, 4) cribra orbitalia, and 5) cortical bone maintenance. A comparison of mean life expectancy (eox) values for males and females aged 10–55+ years revealed a consistent pattern of greater female survivorship, particularly in childhood (age 10 category) where female life expectancy exceeds that of males by 19%. Measures of growth and development, enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and cortical bone loss were subsequently used to test a hypothesis of greater female resiliency based on the mortality data. Male-female differences in skeletal maturation are pronounced with male skeletal ages averaging a significant 2.9 years below their dental age. Females show no significant differences with an average skeletal age 0.75 years ahead of dental age. Males begin hypoplasia formation one year earlier than females and, prior to age four, average 18% more hypoplasias (p<0.05). Also, by age 8, males have on average more than twice the frequency of cribra orbitalia (p<0.05). In contrast to their consistent pattern of reduced childhood stress, adult females lose significantly more cortical bone than their male counterparts and have less cortical bone across the adult age range. Nevertheless, females outnumber males of all ages with a sex-ratio below but parallel to that observed in modern populations. The rapid age-related reduction in males relative to females, even in old age, suggests a continuing female resiliency in spite of their greater rate of osteopenia and may reflect a reproductive advantage to the population through heightened female survival and adaptability.     

Os acromiale: population differences and their etiological significance.

The os acromiale is an accessory bone resulting from failure of the acromial apophysis to fuse to the scapula. It is a relatively frequent defect affecting 4-18% of most large skeletal series. The etiology of os acromiale is poorly understood, and two competing hypotheses have been proposed: (1) that the accessory bone represents a genetic defect, and (2) that it results from mechanical stress on the developing acromion. In order to assess the evidence for these two hypotheses, os acromiale frequencies from a South African cadaver sample (n = 494) were compared to frequencies from a medieval Danish archaeological sample (n = 532). The South African frequency (18.2%) was significantly higher than the medieval Danish frequency (7.7%, p < 0.0001). These results mirror those of another study comparing African- and Euro-Americans, and tend to support the genetic hypothesis. However, a left side bias (72%) was also found among the South Africans (p = 0.013), lending some support to the mechanical stress hypothesis. Sex and age biases were also examined but were not found. In order to further test the mechanical hypothesis, the medieval Danes were divided into groups of higher and lower socioeconomic status based upon cemetery type. Lower status individuals were presumed to have engaged in strenuous labor activities more often and at a younger age than higher status individuals. However, comparison of these two groups failed to demonstrate a significant frequency difference (p = 0.105). Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that a third etiology combining a genetic predisposition for os acromiale with mechanical stress as the proximate cause should also be considered.     

Skeletal growth in a medieval population from Sudanese Nubia

Long bone growth is analyzed for 180 children from a Medieval population at Kulubnarti in Sudanese Nubia (550–1450 A.D.). A regional interpopulation comparison is made with growth data from Wadi Halfa in Lower Nubia, and an intrapopulation analysis is undertaken to assess diachronic changes in growth at Kulubnarti. Changes in growth patterns are interpreted in the context of mortality and morbidity profiles and relationships between the three variables are discussed. It is suggested that changes in the sociopolitical environment may have been responsible in part for altering levels of biological stress and impacting growth.