Sex determination of fetal and neonate skeletons by means of discriminant analysis

Facing the requirements of refined paleodemographical analyses, the access to the early ontogenetic sex ratio of skeletal populations is an important feature. Using raw data provided byFazekas & Kosa (1978) for a sample of known sex, discriminant functions are derived from hip and thigh bone dimensions that allow an almost unbiased classification of more than 70% of fetal and neonate individuals.     

Accuracy and direction of error in the sexing of the skeleton: implications for paleodemography

Determinations of sex by subjective assessment of the skulls from a skeletal series of known sex were compared to fully independent assessments based on pelves of the same specimens. Within-sex correlations of cranial and pelvic morphologies measured on an android-gynecoid scale were smaller than expected. Subjective assessment by means of the skull compared favorably to that of the linear discriminant functions of Giles and Elliot; however, the direction of error was similar for both procedures. Of course, estimations based on the pelves were generally superior to both in terms of frequency and overall bias of error. The bias of sex estimation for paleodemographic purposes is contingent upon completeness of skeletal remains.     

Detection of significant demographic differences between subpopulations of prehispanic Maya from Copan, Honduras, by survival analysis

Heterogeneity and small sample size are problems that affect many paleodemographic studies. The former can cause the overall distribution of age at death to be an amalgam that does not accurately reflect the distributions of any of the groups composing the heterogeneous population. The latter can make it difficult to separate significant from nonsignificant demographic differences between groups. Survival analysis, a methodology that involves the survival distribution function and various regression models, can be applied to distributions of age at death in order to reveal statistically significant demographic differences and to control for heterogeneity. Survival analysis was used on demographic data from a heterogeneous sample of skeletons of low status Maya who lived in and around Copan, Honduras, between A.D. 400 and 1200. Results contribute to understanding the collapse of Classic Maya civilization.     

江苏兴化蒋庄遗址良渚文化墓地的古人口学

古人口学研究包含对人口学静态参数和动态参数的研究,本文对江苏兴化蒋庄遗址良渚文化墓地进行了性别、年龄结构的分析和生育水平的估计,后者采用的是用n30+/n5+估算粗出生率的方法.蒋庄人口的性别比是105,属于正常范围.模型拟合研究发现蒋庄人口的死亡年龄结构接近正态分布,这种现象可能与婴幼儿统计漏查、成人年龄鉴定中存在的...     

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.     

Femoral diaphyseal histomorphometric age determinations for the Shanidar 3, 4, 5, and 6 Neandertals and Neandertal longevity

Histomorphometric analysis of femoral diaphyseal fragments from the Shanidar 3, 4, 5, and 6 Neandertals provide age at death estimates of 41 (+/- 6.7), 36 (+/- 6.7), 40 (+/- 6.7), and 24 (+/- 6.7) years. These determinations are in agreement with previous macroscopic age assessments. Since the Shanidar 3, 4, and 5 (and slightly younger Shanidar 1) individuals are among the oldest known Neandertals, these age determinations suggest that significant postreproductive survival was rare among the Neandertals and a phenomenon primarily of anatomically modern humans.     

Village composition implied by a paleodemographic life table: The Libben Site

Lovejoy and colleagues excavated some 1327 skeletons deposited around 800 to 1100 A.D. at a site near Lake Erie in Ohio, called Libben. Examination of the implications of the life table presented for the living group which produced the cemetery shows that it would have had to be an extremely young population, in which many of the children would be orphans, in which the adults would have had to work hard and effectively to support the group, and almost none of whom would have lived long enough to become grandparents. The unusual and implausible features of the population structure can be interpreted as direct evidence on prehistoric living conditions, or alternatively, as a caution that the life table may include sources of error or bias.