Race, health, and disease in 19th-century-born males

This study analyzed skeletal health disparities among African American and Euro-American males of low socioeconomic status born between 1825 and 1877. A total of 651 skeletons from the Cobb, Hamann-Todd, and Terry anatomical collections were macroscopically examined for skeletal pathologies related to dietary deficiencies and disease. Individuals were separated into age, ancestry, birth (Antebellum, Civil War, Pre-Reconstruction, and Reconstruction), combined ancestry/birth, enslaved versus liberated, and collection cohorts. These groups were statistically evaluated using ANOVA and χ(2) analyses to determine if age, ethnic, and temporal differences existed. Results indicated that African Americans, especially those born during Reconstruction, had significantly higher frequencies of tuberculosis (P = 0.004) and treponematosis (P = 0.006) than Euro-Americans. Historical sources are important in contextualizing why these different ethnic and temporal patterns were present, pointing to environmental conditions related to enslavement, postliberation migration to the industrialized North, crowded urban living conditions, and poor sanitation.     

Bone fractures as indicators of intentional violence in the eastern adriatic from the antique to the late medieval period (2nd-16th century AD)

To test the historically documented hypothesis of a general increase in deliberate violence in the eastern Adriatic from the antique (AN; 2nd–6th c.) through the early medieval (EM; 7th–11th c.) to the late‐medieval period (LM; 12th–16th c.), an analysis of the frequency and patterning of bone trauma was conducted in three skeletal series from these time periods. A total of 1,125 adult skeletons—346 from the AN, 313 from the EM, and 466 from the LM series—were analyzed. To differentiate between intentional violence and accidental injuries, data for trauma frequencies were collected for the complete skeleton, individual long bones, and the craniofacial region as well as by type of injury (perimortem vs. antemortem). The results of our analyses show a significant temporal increase in total fracture frequencies when calculated by skeleton as well as of individuals exhibiting one skeletal indicator of deliberate violence (sharp force lesions, craniofacial injuries, “parry” fractures, or perimortem trauma). No significant temporal increases were, however, noted in the frequencies of craniofacial trauma, “parry” fractures, perimortem injuries, or of individuals exhibiting multiple skeletal indicators of intentional violence. Cumulatively, these data suggest that the temporal increase in total fracture frequencies recorded in the eastern Adriatic was caused by a combination of factors that included not only an increase of intentional violence but also a significant change in lifestyle that accompanied the transition from a relatively affluent AN urban lifestyle to a more primitive rural medieval way of life. Am J Phys Anthropol 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Race and the inheritance of low birth weight

This paper uses intergenerational data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to address the black-white difference in propensities toward low birth weight (LBW). We determine that socioeconomic conditions account for some variation in low birth weight across race. Further, while race differences in the risk of low birth weight cannot be explained entirely, we find that the inheritance of parental birth weight status dramatically reduces the black-white gap in low birth weight. Intergenerational legacies of poor infant health explain the largest share of racial disparities in filial birth weight. We then try to assess whether this intergenerational transmission of low birth weight is indeed genetic by using grandparent-fixed effects models to factor out, to a great extent, family socioeconomic circumstances. We find that even within this framework, both father's and mother's birth weight status have an important impact on filial outcomes. However, the degree of inheritance is weaker for African Americans than for other races. Finally, we theorize that the importance of paternal birth weight status implies a genetic association that does not work through the uterine environment but rather through the fetus itself.     

Trauma and violence in the Wari empire of the Peruvian Andes: warfare, raids, and ritual fights

This study examines bioarchaeological evidence for violence during the period of Wari imperialism in the Peruvian Andes through analysis of skeletal trauma from three populations dating to AD 650-800. The samples are from contemporaneous archaeological sites: Conchopata, a Wari heartland site in central highland Peru; Beringa, a community of commoners in the Majes valley of the southern Wari hinterland; and La Real, a high status mortuary site, also in the Majes valley. Given the expansionist nature of Wari and its military-related iconography and weaponry, it is hypothesized that Wari imperialism was concomitant with greater levels of violence relative to other prehispanic groups in the Andes. It is also hypothesized that differential articulation with the Wari empire (e.g., heartland vs. hinterland groups) affected the frequency and patterning of trauma. Results show that cranial trauma frequency of the three Wari era samples is significantly greater than several other Andean skeletal populations. This suggests that Wari rule was associated with high levels of violence, though it may not have always been related to militarism. The three adult samples show similar frequencies of cranial trauma (Conchopata = 26%; Beringa = 33%; La Real = 31%). This may suggest that differential positioning in the Wari empire had little effect on exposure to violence. Sex-based differences in cranial trauma frequencies are present only at La Real, but wound patterning differs between the sexes: females display more wounds on the posterior of the cranium, while males show more on the anterior. These data suggest that Wari rule may have contributed to violence.     

Skeletal pathology in Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii in Kibale National Park, Uganda

The ecological pressures shaping chimpanzee anatomy and behavior are the subject of much discussion in primatology and paleoanthropology, yet empirical data on fundamental parameters including body size, morbidity, and mortality are rare for wild chimpanzees. Here, we present skeletal pathology and body size data for 20 (19 crania, 12 postcrania) chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Kibale National Park, Uganda. We compare these data with other East African populations, especially Gombe National Park. Estimated body size for Kibale chimpanzees was similar to other East African populations and significantly larger than Gombe chimpanzees. The high rates of trauma and other skeletal pathology evident in the Kibale chimpanzee skeletons were similar to those in the Gombe skeletal sample. Much of the major skeletal trauma in the Kibale skeletons was attributable to falls, although other pathologies were noted as well, including apparent injuries from snares, degenerative arthritis, and minor congenital abnormalities.     

Experience of violence and socioeconomic position in South Africa: a national study

Background

Violence is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in South Africa and needs to be researched from a public health perspective. Typically in violence research, socioeconomic position is used in the analysis to control for confounding. Social epidemiology approaches this variable as a primary determinant of interest and is used in this research to better understand the aetiology of violence in South Africa. We hypothesised that measures of socioeconomic position (employment, education and household wealth) would be inversely related to violence at the individual and household levels.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Data came from the1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS). Measures of socioeconomic position used were employment, education and household wealth. Eighty-eight people (0.2%) received treatment for a violent injury in the previous 30 days and 103 households (0.9%) experienced a violent death in the previous year. Risk factors for violence at the individual level included employment (41% of those who experienced violence were employed vs. 27% of those who did not, p = 0.02), and education (those who experienced violence had on average, one year more education than those who did not, p = 0.04). Belonging to a household in the wealthiest quintile was protective against violence (OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.12–0.89). In contrast, at the household level all three measures of socioeconomic position were protective against the experience of a violent death. The only association to persist in the multivariate analysis was that between the wealth of the household and violence at the individual level.

Conclusions/Significance

Our hypothesis was supported if household wealth was used as the measure of socioeconomic position at the individual level. While more research is needed to inform the conflicting results observed between the individual and household levels, this analysis has begun to identify the disparities across the socioeconomic structure with respect to violent outcomes.     

Childhood lead exposure in an enslaved African community in Barbados: Implications for birthplace and health status

Lead was ubiquitous on Caribbean sugar plantations, where it was used extensively in the production of sugar and rum. Previous studies suggest that skeletal lead contents can be used to identify African‐born individuals (as opposed to Creoles) among slave burials found in the New World. To test this hypothesis, we measured lead concentrations in enamel samples from 26 individuals from the Newton Plantation cemetery in Barbados, which was in use from around 1660 to 1820, and compared the results with enamel ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr measurements that had been previously obtained for the same population. Results show a clear association between low (i.e., below 1 ppm) enamel lead concentrations and higher enamel ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios which have previously been interpreted as being indicative of African birth, suggesting that individuals with low enamel lead levels were indeed born in Africa as opposed to the New World. Based on these results, we propose that enamel lead measurements provide an effective and inexpensive way to determine African birth from skeletal remains. Furthermore, the lead measurements can provide useful insights into the health status and childhood environment of enslaved Africans during the colonial period. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

东北沦陷时期辽源矿工墓遇难矿工遗骸的骨骼创伤

本文所研究的材料来自吉林省辽源市东北沦陷时期辽源矿工墓陈列馆。通过对陈列馆中197例遇难矿工遗骸(男性186例,女性4例,未成年7例)的观察和研究,发现暴力行为导致的骨骼创伤在该群体中大量存在,共计发现遭受创伤个体40例,各类创伤70处。本文运用法医创伤学的研究方法,对辽源矿工墓遇难矿工遗骸上的各类创伤进行了观察和测量,分析伤害发生时施暴者的位置、打击方向和用手习惯等,结合骨折类型和具体的创伤形态对遗骸上出现的所有创伤进行分类研究。经过分析可知,遇难矿工遗骸上所见创伤大部分是人为手持刀、锤、棒等高效击打工具当面暴力打击颅骨所致,且打击者左手持械的几率较大,推测当时可能存在专职的"打手"对矿工实施管理和惩戒。文章还对部分创伤个体的遇害情境进行了推测,为探讨日伪时期辽源地区矿工的生存状态提供了重要参考。     

Parallel and divergent landscapes: cultural encounters in the ethnographic space of Tuareg medicine

This essay explores the dialogue between the local quest for healing and the anthropological quest for healing knowledge, and local assessments of knowledge-power relationships in these processes. The context is medical discourse among the Tuareg of Niger Republic, West Africa, and my research experiences among these people. I examine local medical specialists and their traditional and changing practice in terms of how they perceive and respond to wider knowledge and power systems that impinge on local health care. Paramount in these systems are central state policies and medical anthropological research on healing, as these intersect in a postcolonial and post-separatist/rebellion setting. The essay analyzes parallels between the exchange of medicine and the exchange of knowledge and reflects upon how anthropological knowledge of African healing systems is constructed in an environment highly charged with power and danger--of political violence and economic crisis. The broader issue addressed here is how to give greater empowerment to local residents' voices in their "indigenous critique" of the medical anthropological project.     

Frequency and patterning of bone trauma in the late medieval population (13th-16th century) from Dugopolje, southern Croatia

The aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis of an increased level of interpersonal violence in Dugopolje during the late medieval period as testified by written sources. In order to accomplish this, an analysis and comparison of frequencies and patterning of long bone and craniofacial fractures between sex and age categories in the Dugopolje skeletal sample was performed. In total 209 excellently preserved adult skeletons were analysed: 111 males and 98 females. The total long bone fracture frequency is 1.5% (29/1910) with a significantly higher frequency in males compared to females. Most of the long bone injuries occurred as a result of accidents, probably due to rugged mountainous terrain, while a certain portion of trauma resulted from deliberate violence. Significantly higher fracture frequencies in males could be a result of a strict sexual division of labour where males performed more physically demanding and risky tasks, as witnessed by historical sources. 26 out of 119 complete adult crania (21.8%) exhibit skeletal trauma with significantly higher frequencies in males. Perimortem trauma was observed in one individual while antemortem healed sharp force lesions were registered in five individuals (all males). The predominance of frontal craniofacial injuries, as well as the presence ofperimortem trauma and sharp force lesions, suggests the presence of deliberate violence in this community. Although the indicators of deliberate violence were recorded predominantly in males, suggesting that intentional violence in Dugopolje was exclusively males' prerogative, the presence of nasal fracture in a female skeleton might point to a male towards female violence. Presented bioarchaeological data are in accordance with the written documents thus corroborating the claims of an increased level of deliberate interpersonal violence in the late medieval population from Dugopolje.     

A systematic review of African studies on intimate partner violence against pregnant women: prevalence and risk factors

Background

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is very high in Africa. However, information obtained from the increasing number of African studies on IPV among pregnant women has not been scientifically analyzed. This paper presents a systematic review summing up the evidence from African studies on IPV prevalence and risk factors among pregnant women.

Methods

A key-word defined search of various electronic databases, specific journals and reference lists on IPV prevalence and risk factors during pregnancy resulted in 19 peer-reviewed journal articles which matched our inclusion criteria. Quantitative articles about pregnant women from Africa published in English between 2000 and 2010 were reviewed. At least two reviewers assessed each paper for quality and content. We conducted meta-analysis of prevalence data and reported odds ratios of risk factors.

Results

The prevalence of IPV during pregnancy ranges from 2% to 57% (n = 13 studies) with meta-analysis yielding an overall prevalence of 15.23% (95% CI: 14.38 to 16.08%). After adjustment for known confounders, five studies retained significant associations between HIV and IPV during pregnancy (OR1.48–3.10). Five studies demonstrated strong evidence that a history of violence is significantly associated with IPV in pregnancy and alcohol abuse by a partner also increases a woman''s chances of being abused during pregnancy (OR 2.89–11.60). Other risk factors include risky sexual behaviours, low socioeconomic status and young age.

Conclusion

The prevalence of IPV among pregnant women in Africa is one of the highest reported globally. The major risk factors included HIV infection, history of violence and alcohol and drug use. This evidence points to the importance of further research to both better understand IPV during pregnancy and feed into interventions in reproductive health services to prevent and minimize the impact of such violence.     

Environmental effects on skeletal versus dental development: Using a documented subadult skeletal sample to test a basic assumption in human osteological research

This study examines the relationship between measures of skeletal and dental development and socioeconomic factors in a 20th century documented skeletal sample of children from Portugal. The skeletons are of known sex and chronological age, and include other biographic data, such as cause of death. Growth in the length of the long bone is used as a measure of skeletal growth, and schedules of tooth formation are used as a measure of dental development. These two measures of physiological age were compared to chronological age, to assess growth and developmental status. Socioeconomic indicators were obtained from the supporting documentation, and include the occupation of the father and the place of residence, which were used to build a socioeconomic classification based on two groups, one of low and the other of high socioeconomic status. Growth and development status was then compared in these two groups. Results show that socioeconomic differences are much more pronounced in skeletal growth than in dental development. This largely supports the assertion that dental development is buffered against environmental factors relative to skeletal development. However, in this study, skeletal maturation could not be assessed, and findings indicate that dental development can show significant delays at the lower end of the socioeconomic gradient.     

Biocultural interpretations of trauma in two prehistoric Pacific Island populations from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands

Two Pacific Island skeletal samples originating from the inland site of Nebira, Papua New Guinea (1230–1650) and a coastal site on the small island of Taumako, Solomon Islands (1530–1698) were examined for evidence of skeletal trauma using a biocultural approach. The types of trauma identified were cranial trauma, postcranial fractures, and piercing and sharp force trauma. Both samples exhibit trauma (Nebira, n = 9/28, 32.1%; Taumako, n = 17/133, 12.8%). Postcranial fractures are significantly higher in males from Nebira (Fisher Exact P value = 0.025). The prevalence of cranial trauma (n = 6/28, 21.4%) is significantly higher in Nebira individuals (Fisher Exact P value = 0.007). There is no conclusive evidence of piercing trauma at Nebira unlike Taumako, which has four individuals with evidence of piercing or sharp force trauma. Both samples show evidence of interpersonal violence and warfare. The results suggest the environment may have contributed to the pattern of trauma at these sites. These patterns are discussed within their cultural and environmental contexts. Am J Phys Anthropol 142:509–518, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The harsh life on the 15th century Croatia‐Ottoman Empire military border: Analyzing and identifying the reasons for the massacre in Čepin

Excavation of the historic period cemetery in ?epin, Croatia revealed the presence of a large number of perimortem injuries distributed among males, females, and subadults. Archaeological and historical data suggest these individuals were victims of a raid carried out by Turkish akinji light cavalry in 1441. Comparisons with the frequencies of perimortem trauma in 12 other, temporally congruent skeletal series from the Balkans (n = 2,123 skeletons) support this assumption. The role of the akinji in the Ottoman army was twofold: to supply war captives, and to terrorize and disperse local populations before the advance of regular troops. This article tests the hypothesis that the purpose of the 1441 raid was the latter. To accomplish this, perimortem trauma in the series were analyzed by sex, age, location, and depth of the injury. A total of 82 perimortem injuries were recorded in 12 males, 7 females, and 3 subadults. The demographic profile of the victims suggests that young adults were specifically targeted in the attack. Significant sex differences are noted in the number, distribution, and pattern of perimortem trauma. Females exhibit significantly more perimortem injuries per individual, and per bone affected, than males. The morphology and pattern of perimortem trauma in females is suggestive of gratuitous violence. Cumulatively, analysis of the osteological data suggest that the objective of the 1441 akinji raid was to spread terror and panic in the ?epin area, either as revenge for recent military setbacks, or as part of a long‐term strategy intended to depopulate the area around Osijek. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Warfare related trauma at Orendorf, a middle Mississippian site in west-central Illinois

Skeletal evidence of nonritual interpersonal trauma in the central Illinois valley is currently limited to the terminal prehistoric period in the region. Sixteen percent of the entire Norris Farms Oneota skeletal sample died violently, presumably because they intruded upon small groups of Mississippians who had not yet abandoned the region. Archaeological evidence of palisades, however, suggests that the region was embroiled in conflict before the Oneota arrived though the skeletal evidence supporting more than ritualized or geographically sporadic cases of scalping or embedded projectiles has been elusive. This study examines the frequency and nature of interpersonal trauma at Orendorf, a Middle Mississippian (AD 1150-1250) site at the northern periphery of the region. Nine percent (N = 25) of all 268 individuals documented at Orendorf suffered warfare-related trauma, including 13 cases of scalping, six instances of decapitation, five individuals with healed cranial blunt force trauma, three projectile point impacts, and eight cases of projectile injuries inferred by the burial context. All of the traumatized individuals were at or above the age of 15 years and males and females were victimized equally. The trauma rate among adults is 16%, which is less than that of the Norris Farms Oneota (34%) but higher than other Mississippian groups in the Southeast. The nature of the injuries is more consistent with attacks by outsiders than codified or ritualized intragroup violence.     

National cross sectional study of views on sexual violence and risk of HIV infection and AIDS among South African school pupils

Objective To investigate the views of school pupils on sexual violence and on the risk of HIV infection and AIDS and their experiences of sexual violence.Design National cross sectional study.Setting 5162 classes in 1418 South African schools.Participants 269 705 school pupils aged 10-19 years in grades 6-11.Main outcome measure Answers to questions about sexual violence and about the risk of HIV infection and AIDS.Results Misconceptions about sexual violence were common among both sexes, but more females held views that would put them at high risk of HIV infection. One third of the respondents thought they might be HIV positive. This was associated with misconceptions about sexual violence and about the risk of HIV infection and AIDS. Around 11% of males and 4% of females claimed to have forced someone else to have sex; 66% of these males and 71% of these females had themselves been forced to have sex. A history of forced sex was a powerful determinant of views on sexual violence and risk of HIV infection.Conclusions The views of South African youth on sexual violence and on the risk of HIV infection and AIDS were compatible with acceptance of sexual coercion and “adaptive” attitudes to survival in a violent society. Views differed little between the sexes.     

Beyond palisades: The nature and frequency of late prehistoric deliberate violent trauma in the Chickamauga reservoir of east Tennessee

Based on the presence of palisades and an iconography suggesting a warrior elite, warfare is presumed to be endemic in the Late Mississippian period (AD 1200-1600) of the southeastern United States. Warfare is theorized to play a vital role in the cycling of chiefdoms. However, apart from a few exemplary cases that display double-digit frequencies, very little direct (i.e., skeletal) evidence of violent trauma has dovetailed with the archaeological presumptions of warfare. Eight sites from the Chickamauga Reservoir of east Tennessee were examined for skeletal evidence of deliberate violent trauma. Violent trauma was anticipated because these sites are in close proximity and consist of two adjacent, sociopolitically distinct, and temporally overlapping phases: Dallas (AD 1300-1600) and Mouse Creek (AD 1400-1600). In addition to small, round, nonlethal ectocranial blunt-force trauma (BFT) on the frontal and upper parietal bones, inflicted projectile points and scalping were identified. The low total trauma frequency in the Dallas sample (3.86%, n = 259) is consistent with emerging evidence from east and west Tennessee Late Mississippian data, but significantly different from Mouse Creek (8.06%, n = 273). The proportion of nonlethal cranial BFT in the collective Chickamauga sample is large and at odds with the Tennessee River Valley comparative literature. Based on other bioarchaeological literature, this pattern suggests intragroup violence, but not face-to-face ritual contests. It is better explained as interpersonal conflict resolution along codified lines. This is consistent with southeastern ethnohistoric data and may explain the more frequent cranial BFT in the less stratified Mouse Creek phase, which likely would not have had an overarching civil authority.     

Culturally Determined Patterns of Violence: Biological Anthropological Investigations at a Historic Urban Cemetery

Patterns of violence and the type and distribution of resulting injuries are highly culturally specific. In this study, skeletal data from a historic cemetery (St. Martin's, England) are combined with contemporary sources and modern clinical data to enable the patterning of violence-related injuries to be interpreted. Particular consideration was given to the possibility of a relationship between commonly occurring types of violence and those that are popular in sport. Phillip Walker (1997) suggested that the growth of fist fighting in the early-20th-century United States was stimulated by the rising popularity of boxing. At St. Martin's, a pattern of injuries consistent with fighting in a style specific to boxing is evident, suggesting that developing boxing styles were influential in 18th- and 19th-century Britain as the accepted way of settling interpersonal disputes. This research underlines the importance of interpreting skeletal data in their specific cultural context to gain the maximum information on patterns of behavior.     

Racial fertility differences: The role of female employment and education in wanted and unwanted childbearing

Abstract

This paper employs data from a merged sample of the National Surveys of Family Growth to examine how female employment status conditions the relationship between education and wanted and unwanted births among African American and white women. A rationale is presented for why a minority group status hypothesis that posits lower fertility among more highly educated African American women as compared to similar white women might find support in the case of wanted births and among certain women, including earlier birth cohorts. Our results provide some evidence for these ideas as well as evidence for a social characteristics hypothesis that predicts convergence of childbearing with rising education. However, persistently higher levels of unwanted births among African American women of all educational levels suggest that the dynamics of racial fertility differences are more complex than either of the hypotheses imply.