Growth faltering in a skeletal sample of enslaved nonadult Africans found at Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries)

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study is to analyse the growth of a sample of 31 nonadult individuals buried in an unusual way in Valle da Gafaria (Lagos, Portugal) between the 15th and 17th centuries. The archaeological and historical context of the skeletal collection (N = 158), the morphological traits of the skulls, and the presence of intentionally modified teeth in some individuals led to the conclusion that they were African slaves. The study of past populations' growth has been an essential component of the bioanthropological investigations because it is a good indicator of the health state and environment conditions in which human populations have lived. Attending to the hypothesis that differences between skeletal and dental age estimations are indicative of growth delay, it is pertinent to understand if these enslaved nonadult individuals were exposed to harsh environmental conditions. Dental age was estimated on the basis of dental development, that is, dental calcification and the sequence of formation and eruption of teeth. Skeletal age was evaluated in accordance to the long bones lengths. Non‐specific stress indicators, namely, cribra orbitalia, cribra humeralis, cribra femoralis, porotic hyperostosis, and enamel hypoplasia, were considered as markers of physiological disturbances. The age estimates obtained by the two dental methods were consistent in 79.2% of the individuals. On the other hand, the estimates obtained by osteometric and dental methods were consistent in 75.9% (osteometric vs. sequence of formation and eruption of teeth) and 65.2% (osteometric vs. dental calcification), the osteometric providing younger ages. The relatively low concordance between the age estimations was corroborated by the Cohen's Kappa coefficients. These results along with the high frequencies of cribra orbitalia (87.0%), cribra femoralis (85.7%), cribra humeralis (44.4%), porotic hyperostosis (43.3%), and enamel hypoplasia (70.0%) make evident the difficulties experienced by these individuals during their short lives.