Turner Teeth and childhood caries in a protohistoric California Indian population

Three instances of unusual enamel defects are reported from a late prehistoric and protohistoric non-agricultural California Indian population. The defects, consisting of irregular absence of enamel over much of the crown of single premolars, with no corresponding hypoplastic defects in the remainder of the dentition, are typical of Turner teeth. Such defects are a consequence of pulp exposure from severe caries infections in the primary dentition. Their presence is suggestive of unusually high levels of childhood caries experience for a non-agricultural population, a suggestion borne out by examination of the deciduous dentitions.     

Analysis of enamel ultrastructure in archaeology: The identification of Ovis aries and Capra hircus dental remains

Ultrastructural features of deep, intermediate and superficial enamel were quantitatively assessed for the mandibular first permanent molars of 10 specimens each of the domestic sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Capra hircus). The means of a number of variables differed interspecifically at high levels of statistical significance, especially with regard to the enamel of intermediate depth. A canonical discriminant function analysis employing nine variables at all three enamel depths resulted in the correct taxonomic assignment of 95% of the specimens comprising the present sample. These results, coupled with the simple preparative and analytical methods presented here, may enable archaeozoologists to utilize enamel ultrastructure in order to discriminate between fragmentary dental remains of these caprine species.     

Evidence for Spanish influence on activity induced musculoskeletal stress markers at Pecos Pueblo

In the present study, hypotheses regarding the effect of Spanish contact on some habitual activities among the indigenous population of Pecos Pueblo, New Mexico, are tested using analyses of upper body musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM). Historical records demonstrate that the Spanish desired maize, animal hides, woven cotton mantas, and labour from the Puebloan Indians of this area. Therefore, it is hypothesized that a comparison of MSM data from pre- and post-Spanish contact groups at Pecos would display evidence of intensification of activities related to the procurement of these goods. The MSM data from this research do support the contention that Spanish contact had an effect on habitual activities performed by both sexes; however, the number of muscles demonstrating a statistically significant difference over time is limited. Yet trends in the mean MSM expression as well as rank order of these muscles and others uphold the hypothesized increase in maize production and processing as well as an increase in burden bearing. No evidence is found to support an increase in weaving activity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ursus spelaeus vanished because of dental stress?

The palaeopathological study of a large skeletal collection of Ursus spelaeus from Italy indicates that the most frequent pathologies were diseases of the teeth and jaws and this indicates that the extinction of the large European bear, in large part, can be attributable to masticatory disadaptation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxygen and strontium isotopes as provenance indicators of fish at archaeological sites: the case study of Sagalassos,SW Turkey

In this paper, we investigate the potential use of oxygen and strontium isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O_p and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) measured in archaeological fish enamel as provenance indicators. δ¹⁸O_p and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr were measured in a suite of archaeological carp remains recovered from the Anatolian townsite of Sagalassos dated to the Early Byzantine period (AD 450–650) and compared to that of modern fish, river and lake waters from the Anatolian region. We used sequential leaches in weak acetic acid to remove diagenetic Sr from fossil tooth enamel, monitoring the effectiveness of this approach by measuring the Sr/Ca ratios of the leachates via an isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry method (ID-TIMS). δ¹⁸O_p values mostly excluded a riverine origin. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of one fish overlapped with the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signatures of two lakes in the Anatolian region, and at least one lake (Gölcük) could be removed as a candidate owing to a very distinctive ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr signature not found in any of the fish remains. Most of the tooth samples analyzed could not be assigned a precise geographical origin since the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios measured in enamel did not match that of any of the local lakes selected as potential origin. This result suggests that carp may have originated from lakes that have not yet been sampled, although this conclusion is not supported by other archaeological evidence. Alternatively, the lack of correspondence between lakes and fish Sr isotope ratios highlights several possible sources of uncertainties including spatial heterogeneity in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio within a lake, the contribution of dietary strontium to the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of fish tooth enamel, and post-mortem alteration of the tooth Sr isotope signal during fossilization. In spite of the high precision of the strontium isotope analyses and the wide range of variation in the surface waters of the Anatolian lakes and rivers, this method may remain limited to distinguishing between lakes situated in regions of bedrock of very distinct age and geology until these sources of uncertainty are more fully investigated.     

What do muscle marker ruggedness scores actually tell us?

Musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) have been used to reconstruct activity patterns and labour intensity of past populations. Age and size have been found to correlate with MSM, and these aspects should be considered in activity reconstructions. The aim of this study was to find out the nature and the effects of labour intensity, age and size on MSM. Study material were skeletons (N = 108) of individuals of known age, sex and occupation housed at the Natural History Museum, Finland. MSM were scored for Pectoralis major, Deltoid, Teres major and Biceps brachii. These scores were combined to reflect total activity of an individual. Geometric mean of humeral measurements was used as a size indicator and radial tuberosity size was used as a muscle size indicator. Factors explaining MSM were studied using ANCOVA. This included age, size, muscle size, sex, labour intensity, and their interactions. Age and muscle size were the most significant factors explaining MSM, where muscle attachment areas and MSM grow with advancing age. Muscle attachment areas and skeletal frame size were also found to correlate. Least squares regression parameter estimates were used to study the effects of labour intensity, sex and side on MSM. It was found that in early life scores are higher in heavy labour group, but there is less age‐related increase in these scores. This could mean that bone is unable to respond to heavy and continuous loading with surface structure. Therefore labour intensity cannot be reliably recorded in old individuals. Also age and size (as reflected in muscle attachment area) affect MSM and these aspects should be considered before making assumptions on labour intensity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Skeletal markers of occupational stress in the Fur Trade: A case study from a Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trade post

The Seafort Burial Site (FcPr100) is a Fur Trade Period cemetery located near the town of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. The results of recent analysis of skeletons recovered during salvage excavations between 1969 and 1971 suggest that three males in this sample were voyageurs in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. Vertebral osteophytosis and osteoarthritis, Schmorl's nodes, muscle origin robusticity and new bone formation at entheses and syndesmoses, and osteoarthritis at the elbow and shoulder joints provide evidence for carrying, lifting, and paddling or rowing. The presence of accessory sacral facets also may be stress-related. In addition, the development of accessory articular facets on the metatarsals and proximal pedal phalanges may indicate activity-induced stress from hyperdorsiflexion of the toes in habitual kneeling, such as when river canoeing.     

Activity-induced musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) and subsistence strategy changes among ancient Hudson Bay Eskimos

Although archaeological evidence may express the results of several seasons of activity, the human skeleton, when correlated with archaeological and ethnographic data, provides information concerning daily activities performed throughout an individual's lifetime. Studies in occupational and sports medicine, along with electromyographic analysis of movement, have shown that different activities place different amounts of stress on human bone. In the present study, analysis of upper extremity musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) has been used to clarify habitual activity patterns of two ancient Thule Eskimo groups from northwest Hudson Bay, Canada. Distinct pattern differences in muscle use occurred between Thule adult males and females and suggest possible gender-specific activity patterns that are not always discernible from the archaeological record alone. Temporal applications of the MSM data for Early and Late Period Thule support McCartney's theory of a substantial change in subsistence strategies through time, particularly among the adult males.