Anthropology

Schistosomiasis has been deemed ''the most important water-based disease from a global public-health perspective'' in modern populations. To better understand the burden of schistosomiasis in ancient populations, we conducted immunologic exami

Demographic analysis of enamel hypoplasias and cribra orbitalia in a Medieval population from ancient Nubia revealed a strong association between both condi tions and probability of dying among subadults. Analysis of lesion frequencies among individuals, however, demonstrated an inverse relationship. Individuals with cribra orbitalia had significantly fewer hypoplasias than those without the disorder. This apparent paradox is resolved however when the different age structures of the den tal and cranial samples are considered. Taken together, the present data support the contention that the conditions underlying both cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasia contributed to subadult mortality in ancient Nubia. Introduction.

The relationship between advancing age in adults and patterns of cortical bone maintenance has been extensively documented for archaeological populations (Dewey, et al., 1969; Van Gerven et al., 1969; Perzigian, 1973). Most recently, this research has been expanded to include a more thorough consideration of the geometric properties of bone in relationship

An analysis of the relationship between oral pathology and degenerative change at the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) was undertaken on an archaeological sample of 122 adult crania from the Medieval site of Kulubnarti in Sudanese Nubia. The crania were sorted into 2 groups: those

This research presents male-female differences in stress response evidenced in human remains from the Medieval site of Kulubnarti in Sudanese Nubia. This analysis is unique in that a direct comparison of subadult males and females is rarely possible using archaeological remains. Rather, such analyses invariably rely on evidence of subadult differences retained in adult (sexable) skeletons. In the case of Kulubnarti, natural mummification has made it possible to measure sex-specific differences among subadults as well as adults following five avenues of investigation: 1) mortality, 2) growth and development, 3) enamel hypoplasia, 4) cribra orbitalia, and 5) cortical bone maintenance. A comparison of mean life expectancy (eox) values for males and females aged 10-55+ years revealed a consistent pattern of greater female survivorship, particularly in childhood (age 10 category) where female life expectancy exceeds that of males by 19%. Measures of growth and development, enamel hypopla~ia, cribra orbitalia, and cortical bone loss were subsequently used to test a hypothesis of greater female resiliency based on the mortality data. Male-female differences in skeletal maturation are pronounced with male skeletal ages averaging a significant 2.9 years below their dental age. Females show no significant differences with an average skeletal age 0.75 years ahead of dental age. Males begin hypoplasia formation one year earlier than females and, prior to age four, average 18% more hypoplasias (p<0.05). Also, by age 8, males have on average more than twice the frequency of cribra orbitalia (p<0.05). In contrast to their consistent pattern of reduced childhood stress, adult females lose significantly more cortical bone than their male counterparts and have less cortical bone across the adult age range. Nevertheless, females outnumber males of all ages with a sex-ratio below but parallel to that observed in modem populations. The rapid age-related reduction in males relative to females, even in old age, suggests a continuing female resiliency in spite of their greater rate of osteopenia and may reflect a reproductive advantage to the population through heightened female survival and adaptability.

The present research represents a comparison of dental and skeletal development as a means for determining nutritional stress in a Medieval Christian population from Nubia's Barn el Hajar. The sample consists of 21 individuals from an early Christian (c 550-750) and 23 individuals from a late Christian cemetery (c mid-16th century) excavated from the site of Kulubnarti, Sudan. Ages at death ranged from 12 to 23 years. For the combined sample, a large majority (70.5O7o) of individuals had skeletal ages younger than their dental ages. However, a comparison of those individuals that could be sexed revealed that the pattern was not consistent for males and females. Females showed no difference between skeletal and dental age while males showed significant skeletal retardation. This pattern of sex differences is consistent with that observed for modern living children and subaduhs experiencing nutritional stress. A comparison by cemetery also suggests a reduction in stress from early to late Christian times with later Christians showing a closer correspondence between skeletal and dental ages. While not statistically significant, this apparent reduction is consistent with previous research on the subaduh remains.

Bocquet-Appel & Masset (1982) have recently proposed that paleodemography be abandoned in the light of two seemingly insurmountable deficiencies. First, they contend that the age structures of skeletal samples reflects nothing more than the age structures of their reference populations, that is to say, the samples by whose criteria they were aged. Second, they contend that age estimates made on adult skeletons lack sufficient accuracy to permit legitimate demographic analysis. Such estimates are, in the authors' view, nothing more than "random fluctuations and errors of method". The purpose of the present research is lo considcr Bocquet-Appel & Masset's assertions in light of the empirical evidence produced by paleodemography. Our results fail to support either of the authors' allegations. In fact, skeletal samples do not invariably reflect the structure of their reference populations and age estimates do not produce the random fluctuations predicted by the authors' a priori criteria for age estimation. Most importantly, our data indicates that the authors fail to consider the methods and accomplishments of paleodemography in their entirety and thereby present a biased and inadequate discussion of the salient issues.

Previous analysis of cribra orbitalia in the medieval populations of Kulubnarti focused only on the presence or absence of the lesion relative to age, sex, and cultural period. Demographic consideration of the lesion was limited to a gross comparison of lesion frequencies and probabilities of dying by age group. The scope of the earlier work has been expanded in the present research to include the consideration of cribra orbitalia from a developmental, demographic, and diachronic perspective. The sample consisted of the same 334 crania analyzed by Van Gerven et al. ([1981] J. Hum. Evol. 10:395408). All skulls showing the lesion were dichotomized as active or healing, and separate life tables were constructed for those with lesions and those without. The results demonstrate that active lesions are confined entirely to infancy and childhood with formation beginning as early as six months and ending by the twelfth year. This childhood pattern is consistent with the iron deficiency anemia hypothesis proposed by Carlson et al. ([1974] J. Hum. Evol. 3:405-410). Among young adults (16-40), healing lesions occur more frequently in males than females. In the older age categories, however, females exhibit a higher frequency of partially healed lesions than males. A life table comparison of those with and those without cribra orbitalia reveals a dramatic reduction in mean life expectancy for those with the lesion across the formative childhood years (birth-16). This reduction peaks at age 5 where 78% of the children exhibit lesions and where they, as a group, have a mean life expectancy 15.5 years below those without the lesion.

The formation and persistence of radiopaque transverse lines have been assessed in the living in clinical studies of growth, nutrition, and disease. Lines have also been used by many researchers in the analysis of patterns of childhood stress in prehistoric skeletal materials, although most of this research has been undertaken on adult bones. However, how reliable and useful are transverse lines for interpretations of stress? The precise etiologies for their appearance are varied and controversial, and lines are also known to resorb during both childhood and the adult years.

The present research was undertaken to determine the contribution of general size to craniometric variation in two previously described Paleo-Amerindian series, and to evaluate the effect of size variation on univariate assessments of morphological difference between the two. The analysis was based upon 19 measurements of 81 crania representing the Iswanid and Fort Ancient Muskogid varieties. The results of principal components analysis indicate that the 19 measurements can be represented as five principal component variates. Inspection of Component eigenvectors indicates that variation in body size accounts for 40% of the variation within the metric data. Analysis of covariance lends support to the hypothesis that this size variation contributes substantially to statistical tests of difference between the two groups based on Student's t.

An analysis of trabecular bone in the head of the femur of 33 males and 40 females from a prehistoric X-Group population from Sudanese Nubia indicates that as age increases from 17 to 5 0 f years loss of trabecular bone in males (16.01%) is greater than loss in females (13.47%). These results differ from previous studies of cortical bone and ash density of femoral head trabeculae which demonstrate a greater loss in females. An analysis of the differential reaction i n the two trabecular systems reveals that principal tensile group trabeculae decrease in thickness with age while principal compressive group trabeculae show a n increase with age.

Variation in femoral anteversion in an adult African skeletal population is examined in this study. Variation is measured in reference to population, gender, and side of the extremity (right vs. left). This study demonstrates greater average anteversion (19.) and a significant right-left variation (21 vs. 17) when compared to previously reported Caucasian and Oriental populations. The increased anteversion complements previous reports documenting morphologic differences between populations in length and width of the femur. This study documents a variation in femoral anteversion not appreciated in earlier studies that may be clinically useful in the assessment and correction of "abnormal" anteversion.

Throughout antiquity, Nubia has existed on the interface between history and prehistory. The first written record from Nubia may date from the fourth millennium B.C. while her last dark age lasted until 1813. Significantly, this last dark age was the time when Nubia made the final transition from Christianity to Islam. The present research represents .an analysis of mortality among one of the last known Christian populations of Nubia-a population from a region previously uninvestigated by physical anthropology known as the Bath el Hajar ("belly of rock"). A comparison of earlier and later Christian populations from two cemeteries at the site of Kulubnai:ti in the Bath el Hajar suggests that the later Christians, isolated in one of the most hostile and forbidding regions of the Nile Valley, experienced lower rates of childhood mortality and morbidity than their earlier Christian forebears. Our data also suggest that population comparison based on cumulative survivorshlp may be seriously biased by initial differences in childhood mortality.

H newsletter voi 12 no 2 Herskovits' editorship, this may be strange, but it suggests that the profession did want a new definition of the subject matter and that in this broader sense I was merely acting out the will of the community in "initiating" a policy that was "my" view of what anthropology should be. The point has relevance to assumptions and arguments which anthropology shares with theology.