Standardization of long bone growth in children

Diaphyseal lengths of long bones of juveniles from five prehistoric Native American populations were collected in order to test the hypothesis of equivalence of relative lengths of all long bones. Results indicate that the relative lengths of all long bones are not equivalent and that the long bones of the Native Americans exhibit a consistent, significant sequence from relatively most affected (relatively smallest) to relatively least affected (relatively longest): femur, fibula, tibia, humerus, ulna and radius. This sequence can be explained if it is assumed that the most rapidly growing long bones are the most greatly affected by nutritional and disease stress.     

Sclerosing Bone Dysplasia from 16th Century Sardinia (Italy): A Possible Case of Camurati–Engelmann Disease

The skeletal remains of a male aged 45–55 years displaying several bone anomalies were unearthed from the Alghero (Sardinia) plague cemetery ‘lo Quarter’, a burial site dating back to the 1582–1583 AD outbreak. The skeleton, whose stature is about 165 cm, presents a bilateral hyperostosis with increased diameter of the diaphyses of all the long bones of the upper and lower limbs; the metaphyses appear to be involved, while the epiphyses are spared. Marked thickening of the cranial vault is also evident. Radiological study showed irregular cortical thickening and massive endoperiosteal bone apposition; sclerotic changes are observed in the diaphysis of some metacarpals. Computed tomography (CT) cross sections of the long bones displayed a thickening of the cortical portion and endoperiosteal bone apposition. The individual was affected by a sclerosing bone dysplasia, a genetic disease characterized by increased bone density. In differential diagnosis, several sclerosing bone dysplasia, such as hyperostosis corticalis generalisata, craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, craniometadiaphyseal dysplasia, pachydermoperiostosis and Camurati–Engelmann disease, as well as other disorders characterized by sclerosing manifestations, such as Erdheim–Chester disease, mehloreostosis and skeletal fluorosis, need to be considered. The anomalies observed in skeleton 2179 fit with the features of Camurati–Engelmann disease, which is the most likely candidate for final diagnosis. It is highly challenging to evaluate how such a condition may have influenced the individual's lifestyle in terms of development, mobility and quality of life. This individual was probably symptomatic and must have experienced common clinical symptoms, such as pain in the limbs and fatigability. However, the strong development of the muscular insertions and the degenerative changes in the upper limbs suggest that the mobility problems should not have prevented him from reaching a mature age and from performing essential daily activities. The presented case is the unique paleopathological evidence of Camurati–Engelmann disease so far diagnosed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Healed bone fractures in a jomon skeletal population from the Yoshigo shell mound,Aichi Prefecture,Japan

Healed bone fractures were quantitatively analyzed in an ancient Japanese population. The sample studied consisted of the skeletal remains of 160 adult individuals from the Yoshigo shell mound (ca. BP 3400‐2400), Aichi prefecture, Japan. Healed fractures were diagnosed from the presence of callus formation and/or angular deformity. Fractures were frequently seen in small bones of the hand and foot such as the metacarpals, rather than in large long bones such as the clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia and fibula. Of a total of 517 intact large long bones, only four fractures (0.8%) were recognized. The prevalence and pattern of bone fractures in the Yoshigo population reflects the relative lack of stress in their life‐style. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residual rickets or osteomalacia: a case dating from the 16–18th centuries from Krosno Odrzańskie,Poland

A skeleton from a 16–18^th century burial site in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland, was examined using classical morphological, metric and macroscopic palaeopathological observations, as well as radiography and tomography of the skull and long bones. A wide variety of the observed bone deformations probably occurred as a consequence of past rickets and/or osteomalacia, whose primary cause may also have been chronic renal failure. Preservation of the bones enables a discussion of the cause of such pathological changes. The subject under study appears to be a very interesting example of an individual whose skeleton shows advanced pathological alterations associated with the subject's vitamin D deficiency, overall health conditions and relatively long lifespan. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Handedness and directional asymmetry in the long bones of the human upper limb

The long bones of the human upper limb usually show lateral asymmetries of length. This pattern can be attributed either to the mechanical consequences of handedness bias or to genetic or hormonal factors acting directly on longitudinal bone growth. Length data was obtained from the long bones of the upper limbs of a large skeletal assemblage from Wharram Percy, Yorkshire (England), predominantly deriving from the 11th-16th centuries A.D. The Wharram Percy adult skeletons had a population distribution of lateral asymmetries of length in the humerus and in the humerus-plus-radius (a proxy arm length index) which closely parallels the pattern of behavioural handedness found in modern populations. This pattern was developing in the skeletons from the infant and juvenile age ranges, but was absent in the neonates (of whom 12 out of 14 had longer left humeri). We argue that this supports the environmental hypothesis that the ontogeny of long bone length asymmetry is consequent to the earlier development of lateral bias in mechanical loading of the upper limbs.     

Fabric fragments from Pine Island,Alabama: indicator of an evolving male costume item

European and indigenous artifacts from a grave near a mound on Pine Island in the Tennessee River near Guntersville, Alabama, donated to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in 1915, included a group of fabric fragments. The fragments, which incorporate interlaced bison-hair yarns, most likely represent portions of a sash, an accessory with a long history in Mississippian iconography but with few extant archaeological examples. This paper addresses fabric attributes, comparable archaeological and historical fabrics, and the social significance of this costume item.     

A sacral anomaly from the Quaker Cemetery,Kingston‐upon‐Thames,England

A rare defect of the sacrum was observed in the skeleton of an adult female from the Quaker Cemetery (1663–1814 CE) in Kingston‐upon‐Thames, England. This is an isolated finding in the skeletal collection and no other elements in this individual were similarly affected. After eliminating post‐depositional damage and skeletal asymmetry, a differential diagnosis resulted in the consideration of two conditions: hemivertebra and sacral agenesis, both of which are rare developmental defects that originate during foetal growth. Although the defect is interesting from an embryological, genetic and palaeopathological perspective, it would have resulted in few clinical symptoms for the individual. This case adds to the limited knowledge of the morphological variability of the sacrum, and will aid in future diagnoses of these rare pathological conditions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bone remodelling following a lower leg fracture in the 11,000‐year‐old hunter‐gatherer from Vado all' Arancio (Italy)

The Upper Palaeolithic skeleton from Vado all'Arancio (Italy), dated to about 11,330 BP, exhibits a severe ankle fracture healed with residual deformation. Following recovery, this young hunter‐gatherer continued to walk for an extended period of time, albeit in a mechanically altered manner. While right‐left differences in external lower limb bone measurements are relatively low, biomechanical analysis of femur and tibia indicates unusually pronounced asymmetry in all cross‐sectional measures of diaphyseal strength. Asymmetry results primarily from normal side endosteal hypertrophy, and not from hypotrophy of the injured limb, suggesting that this individual resumed active life following recovery. This pattern of asymmetry underscores the role of physical activity in maintaining bone mass. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metastatic carcinoma in a leper skeleton from a Medieval cemetery in Chichester England

Both leprosy and metastatic cancer are well documented in the literature on human skeletal palaeopathology. The manifestation of both pathological conditions in a single archaeological skeleton has not been reported. A case from a Medieval site in Chichester, England exhibits bone lesions and patterns of skeletal involvement indicative of both these diseases. Evidence of leprosy is largely restricted to the lower tibiae, fibulae and the bones of the feet. Fine destructive foci and reactive fibre bone associated with metastatic cancer are distributed in many of the remaining areas of the skeleton. There is minimal overlap in the areas of the skeleton involved in the two pathological processes.     

A Mississippian Mace at Iroquoia's Southern Door

Abstract

This paper documents a Mississippian chipped stone mace, found by Lyle Edger, an amateur collector, in an agricultural field in Nichols, NY, along the Susquehanna River. This crown-form mace is made out of Dover chert and was probably produced by Mississippian people who lived in Middle Tennessee, circa A.D. 1200–1400. We argue that the Nichols Mace could have been acquired by Iroquoian people as the result of either a gift or diplomatic negotiations. We conclude that the meanings the mace held for Iroquoian people were likely tied to how they acquired it.     

“The Roman Giant”: Overgrowth Syndrome in Skeletal Remains from the Imperial Age

A very tall skeleton was found during archaeological excavations in the territory of Fidenae, an administrative centre of the Roman territorial organization, situated along the Via Salaria about 7 km north of Rome (Italy). The individual was a young male, dated back to the Imperial Age (3^rd century AD), presenting a very tall but normally proportioned stature, estimated around 202 cm. The long bones showed incomplete epiphyseal union; therefore, the stature would probably have been taller, if he had lived longer. In this work, the metric data are compared with those from the Roman Imperial Age population, and differential diagnosis is discussed. The skeletal evidence is characteristic of a form of gigantism, a rare growth disease that may be linked to different syndromes. The most common etiology is associated with a dysfunction of the pituitary gland, which causes overproduction of the growth hormone (hGH) during childhood. This endocrine disorder stimulates cartilaginous activity at the growth plate, delaying epiphyseal fusion and resulting in increased bone length. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Limb bones asymmetry and stress in medieval and recent populations of Central Europe

Monitoring the degree of asymmetry in different parts of the human body can contribute to population studies, as it may be connected indirectly with the social structure, living conditions, and also with biomechanical stress affecting the person. Analysis of asymmetry may also assess preferential use of the right or left of the body during specific activities. This study is based on the measurements of bones of the upper and lower limbs of skeletons derived from the remarkable medieval cemeteries of Mikulčice‐Kostelisko (78 male, 132 female) and Prušánky (66 male, 69 female) (9th–12th centuries AD), and a series of skeletons representing a recent population from Bohemia (143 male, 157 female). The objective was to assess directional asymmetry (DA), fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and antisymmetry (AS) of the dimensions of the evaluated bones, and to use these data to compare the characteristics of the medieval and recent populations. DA was recorded in most dimensions. In the upper limb, the humerus exhibited the greatest expression of asymmetry, and, with the exception of the clavicle, DA was always more pronounced on the right side. Conversely, DA was less prevalent in the lower limb bones. It was more pronounced on the transverse, sagittal and circumferential dimensions of the diaphyses and epiphyses than on the length, and in most cases it was on the left side. The FA values were very low, and almost negligible in relation to the size. Nevertheless, FA was markedly more frequent on the lower than on the upper limb. In contrast to the medieval population, the recent population had higher FA and DA values. Thus, we propose that people from this medieval population were subjected to lower developmental stress than the recent sample. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MISSISSIPPIAN OCCUPATIONS IN WESTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI: RECENT CHRONOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT CHUCALISSA (40SY1), SHELBY COUNTY,TENNESSEE

Abstract

Investigations at Chucalissa (40SY1) in Shelby County, Tennessee, have been instrumental in establishing Mississippian period chronology for southwestern Tennessee and much of the surrounding region. Excavations conducted in 2003 produced a suite of new radiocarbon dates that has provided a refined developmental lineage of occupations in West Tennessee and northwestern Mississippi, while geophysical investigations in 2011 have clarified our understanding of the late prehistoric occupation of the site and validated suggestions of distinctive mound architecture in a region extending over a large portion of the Southeast.     

Ancient DNA typing shows that a Bronze Age mummy is a composite of different skeletons

Excavations at Cladh Hallan, a Bronze Age-Iron Age settlement on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, revealed the skeletons of two adults, a sub-adult and a child buried beneath the foundations of three roundhouses. Osteological and isotopic evidence has shown that the male adult skeleton is a composite made up of parts of at least three different individuals. To test the hypothesis that the female skeleton was also a composite we examined ancient DNA from four of its components: the skull, mandible, right humerus and right femur. Seven polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were attempted, these covering positions 15,996–16,420, 16–132 and 232–368 of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable I and II regions. Three PCRs were successful for each sample and a total of 55 sequences were obtained from the cloned products. After exclusion of possible contaminating sequences, the remaining 34 were compared. It was concluded that the mandible, humerus and femur come from different individuals. Insufficient data were obtained to draw conclusions regarding the origin of the skull. The presence of two composite skeletons at Cladh Hallan indicates that the merging of identities may have been a deliberate act, perhaps designed to amalgamate different ancestries into a single lineage.     

A foot deformity from a Romano‐British cemetery at Gloucester,England, and the current evidence for talipes in palaeopathology

A male skeleton from the Romano‐British site at Kingsholm, Gloucester, is described with abnormalities in the humerus, femur, tibia, fibula and foot. Computed tomography of the femora to enable cross‐sectional analysis suggested altered normal gait to compensate for the deformity. Differential diagnoses are considered and a diagnosis of clubfoot deformity is suggested. Palaeopathological evidence for clubfoot is rare in the literature but the cases reported to date are reviewed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of Musculoskeletal Stress Marker Development in the Hand

The analysis of musculoskeletal stress marker (MSM) development is a commonly employed tool in osteological surveys and is used to infer patterns of occupational activity and societal organisation in archaeological populations. Although the majority of research into upper limb MSMs has focused on the bones of the arm, the bones of the hand have been conspicuous by their absence. This is likely to be due to methodological issues surrounding the study of hand bones and a presumed lack of variation in MSM development in this area. To date, there have been no systematic studies investigating the presence and variation in MSM morphology for the muscles of the human hand. To address this issue, a presence/absence scoring system was developed for twelve sites of muscle origin and insertion in the metacarpals and phalanges, which was used to determine bilateral asymmetry in the hands of 31 individuals from the Naval Hospital Cemetery site in Greenwich, London. Analysis found observable variation in MSM development between and within the hands, which could be used to determine patterns of asymmetry within the sample. Comparisons with MSM scores from the humeri of these individuals indicate a differentiation in MSM development and asymmetry between these anatomical regions. Levels of asymmetry in the hands and humeri were generally low, with only the dorsal interossei displaying statistically significant asymmetry. Subsequent upper limb MSM research will benefit from the inclusion of data from the hands. These results do not support the continued use of the humerus as a proxy for MSM expression across the upper limb as a whole and suggest that important information regarding behavioural asymmetry in the hands is being lost because of the continual exclusion of this anatomical unit from MSM research. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal trends in violence during the Mississippian period in the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee

This study utilizes a biocultural approach to investigate skeletal evidence for violence among Mississippian communities in the Middle Cumberland Region (MCR) of Tennessee. Bioarchaeological evidence for violence is placed within the local environmental and cultural context in order to better understand temporal trends in regional conflict. Bioarchaeological analyses were conducted on the crania of 599 adult individuals from 13 sites in the MCR. Approximately 7.2 percent of the sample (43/599) showed evidence of violent cranial injuries in the form of scalping, sharp force trauma, and blunt force trauma. While overall trauma frequencies appear to increase during the later Mississippian period, this may reflect a shift in the nature of violence, rather than simply an intensification of intergroup conflict. More fine-grained temporal comparisons are made for samples from the late Mississippian Averbuch site. The variability in the frequencies and types of violence observed within the MCR demonstrates the issues inherent in the reliance on broad generalizations about human behavior in the past and highlights the importance of utilizing both a regional and diachronic approach.     

THE SHELBY FOREST SITE IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE AND EARLY MISSISSIPPIAN RED-FILMED POTTERY IN THE CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI VALLEY

Abstract

The Shelby Forest site in southwest Tennessee is an Early Mississippian component characterized by Varney Red Filmed ceramics. Comparison to other sites in the Reelfoot Lake area of west Tennessee and the Upper St. Francis Basin of Missouri and Arkansas allows refinement of the direction, timing, and characteristics of influences from these areas northeastward to American Bottom and southward into the Yazoo Basin of Mississippi. Subsequent influences from the Cahokia area into the southern Yazoo Basin and northeast Louisiana are also discussed.     

Sexual dimorphism in diaphyseal cross‐sectional shape in the medieval Muslim population of Écija,Spain, and Anglo‐Saxon Great Chesterford,UK

Differences in adult male and female activity patterns may influence levels of sexual dimorphism in physical dimensions, including the cross‐sectional shape of long bone diaphyses. Previous studies of archaeological populations have demonstrated significant differences in diaphyseal shape between males and females. In this study, dimorphism in external diaphyseal shape of upper and lower limb bones (reflected in indices of external diaphyseal diameters), and bilateral asymmetry in these indices, were examined in two medieval populations: Muslim Écija (Spain) and Anglo‐Saxon Great Chesterford (UK). Attempts were made to relate observed patterns to documentary and other osteological evidence for differences in male and female activity patterns. While few significant differences in upper limb bone cross‐sectional shape were observed in either population, significant differences in shape were found in the lower limb diaphyses at Écija at the femoral midshaft and tibial foramen and midshaft levels, and at the tibial midshaft for Great Chesterford. Comparison with published data suggests that these differences are marked for Écija, and perhaps fairly high for Great Chesterford compared with other populations with an agriculture‐based economy. This is consistent with documentary and osteological evidence suggesting marked gender differences in behaviour in medieval Muslim Spain. No significant differences in bilateral asymmetry were found, but the effects of small sample size cannot be ruled out. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Osseous talocalcaneal coalition in a medieval skeleton (ca. 1050 AD)

Tarsal coalition (TC) is defined as an abnormal fusion of two or more tarsal bones. The fusion may be fibrous, cartilaginous or osseous and can be congenital or acquired in response to infection, articular disorders, trauma, neoplasm or surgery. We report a case of a talocalcaneal (TCC) type of tarsal coalition in a medieval skeleton from Northwest Germany dating to ca. 1050 AD. The fusion is of osseous type. Plain AP radiographs and computed tomography confirmed the macroscopic diagnosis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.