Further developments in molecular sex assignment: a blind test of 18th and 19th century human skeletons

The identification of sex in human remains recovered from archaeological locations is important in order to understand the social and biological structure of past societies, and to reconstruct past population demographic events. Sex determination is usually based on morphological traits of the skeletons, with the drawback that most methods do not apply to juveniles and require well preserved remains. In cases where morphological methods cannot be used, or are ambiguous, methods of molecular sexing systems are an alternative. In this methodological study we tested and validated the accuracy and usefulness of a molecular sexing method based on the amelogenin gene using pyrosequencing. We did this in a double blind study of documented 18th and 19th century human remains.     

THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE GROWTH/NO-GROWTH DEBATE*

This theoretical analysis focuses on the properties of conservative, liberal, and radical paradigms in social science and their application to the growth/no-growth debate in environmental policy literature. We find conservatives working with an evolutionary model of society which suggests that environmental problems are imperfections to be remedied by science, technology, and the free market. Liberals recognize the benefits and costs of growth, and they articulate ways to minimize the costs through state regulation and planning. Radicals argue for state ownership of the means of production and new cultural values about growth as the only effective environmental policies. This analysis closes with a discussion of the future of the growth debate in terms of these paradigms.     

A fatal flaw: Nairn's flight from theory

Bede Nairn, Civilising Capitalism: The Labor Movement in New South Wales, 1870–1900, ANU Press, Canberra, 1973, pp. 260 + xii, $8.95.     

Age of closure of the foramen of Huschke: an osteological study

The foramen of Huschke is a dehiscence in the antero‐inferior surface of the tympanic plate, which forms during the normal post‐natal development of the temporal bone. Closure of the foramen is generally reported to take place by 5 years of age, although a persistent foramen has been observed in 0–67% of adult crania depending on the population. A persistent foramen of Huschke in adult life may be involved in abnormalities of the external auditory canal and related structures, which can lead to otological complications. This paper examines age‐related changes in the development of the tympanic plate from the perinatal to the adult condition using two osteological samples from Britain, and is the first systematic evaluation beyond the age of six years. The results suggest that the widely cited chronology for the closure of the foramen of Huschke is erroneous. Earlier stages of formation may be used for narrowing age estimation in fragmentary remains of juveniles in a skeletal collection of unknown age or in a forensic or clinical context. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of parity status on δN: looking for the “pregnancy effect” in 18th and 19th century London

This study examined the effect of parity status on δ¹⁵N using the well-characterised 18th and 19th century skeletal collection from the crypt of Christ Church, Spitalfields, London. We tested whether the cumulative effect of multiple pregnancies and breastfeeding could significantly reduce female δ¹⁵N values compared to males. The results from stable isotope analysis of 92 adult ribs show that the population of Spitalfields had relatively little variation in diet, compared to contemporary urban populations, and had abundant animal and marine protein. We were able to rule out any effect attributable to socio-economic status, date or age at death on the stable isotope ratios. There were no significant differences in δ¹⁵N due to parity status, nor were there any differences between males and females. Models of collagen turnover rates in ribs suggest that the effect of δ¹⁵N depletion due to pregnancy would be undetectable except in ideal circumstances, where bone of the optimal turnover period was sampled, and in cases where multi-parous individuals died shortly after parturition.