The distribution of osteoarthritis of the hands in a skeletal population

The distribution of osteoarthritis of the hands was studied in 101 skeletons from archaeological sites in England. The results are similar to those found in epidemiological studies of modern populations. Osteoarthritis of the hands was more common in females than in males, and in females tended to involve a greater number of joints. The distal and proximal interphalangeal joints were commonly affected, the former more frequently than the latter, but otherwise the disease was largely confined to the first ray of the hand, centred on the trapezium. It is concluded that the pattern of osteoarthritis in the hand has probably not changed greatly over several hundred years.     

Human remains from the Moravian Gravettian: morphology and taphonomy of additional elements from Dolní Vĕstonice II and Pavlov I

Zooarchaeological analysis of the earlier Mid Upper Paleolithic (MUP) (Pavlovian) assemblages from Dolní Vĕstonice II and Pavlov I, southern Moravia, have yielded 11 additional remains from Dolní Vĕstonice II (five of which may be associated) and 20 remains from Pavlov I (16 of which come from a pair of hands, Pavlov 31). These remains are those of early modern humans, albeit with a few generally archaic features. At least two of them represent very tall individuals, among the tallest known for the Upper Paleolithic. These remains also raise the question, previously posed, as to the nature of differential treatment of the dead among MUP humans, given the presence of ritual burials, isolated bones and (with Pavlov 31) selected associated anatomy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.